















THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 




THE JESTER 

BY FRANK H. READ 


REPRODUCED FROM THE ORIGINAL OIL-PRINT IN COLOURS 










THE COMPLETE 
PHOTOGRAPHER 


BY 

R. CHILD BAYLEY 

M 

EDITOR OF “THE AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER AND PHOTOGRAPHY * 
AUTHOR OF “PHOTOGRAPHY IN COLOURS,” ETC. 


WITH SIXTY-FIVE FULL-PAGE PLATES 
AND MANY TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW REVISED EDITION 


NEW YORK 

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


TR\4S 


*3 X \ V. 'A % 

'*3 



PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN 


PREFACE 



OBODY who has once come under the spell of the 


1 > camera, and has so far penetrated into the mysteries 
of photography as to be able to expose with a reasonably quiet 
mind as to the ultimate nature of his negatives, can ever there¬ 
after free himself completely from its fascination. I have been 
under the spell for over thirty years, but my camera is as 
good a companion as ever, and photography is as entertaining 
in 1920 as in 1885. And incalculably easier also. 

The great reduction in its difficulties and complications has 
made the camera vastly more popular ; but at the same time 
it has had the curious and unforeseen result that, comparatively 
speaking, there are fewer amateurs to whom its use is their 
chief hobby. Formerly success was only to be attained by 
concentrating one’s whole attention on the processes employed, 
and photography was the pursuit of a few enthusiasts. To-day, 
while almost every one photographs, there has not been so vast 
an increase in the number of enthusiasts, although the increase 
has been a large one. Many have been led by its facility to 
take it up casually, and have found that even in that way it 
(vill furnish a great deal of pleasure and of attractive and useful 
occupation. Some of these are led further and further in its 
pursuit. They find that in spite of hand-cameras, mechanical 
development, and gaslight papers, there is still plenty of scope 
for the exercise of personal skill; there are plenty of difficulties 
to confront and triumphs to achieve, and that as a pastime 
an inexhaustible field opens out before them as they proceed. 
To such a field the later chapters of this book may serve as an 
introduction. 

It was pointed out in the preface to the first edition that 


vi 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


“ The Complete Photographer ” made no attempt to be 
either a scientific treatise on underlying principles, nor a 
reference or “ how-to-do ” book of the kind with which the field 
is already amply provided. Formulae have been omitted as far 
as possible, partly because every packet of plates or papers in¬ 
cludes them, still more to counteract the tendency to regard 
them as forming the key to success. Too many have stuck 
hopelessly amongst prescriptions, going from one to the other 
in the hope of finding some magic fluid that shall dissolve all 
the obstacles in their path, not realizing that it is not the 
formula but its use that is at fault. I have striven to show that 
successful photography is neither a matter of formulae nor of 
costly and elaborate apparatus, but of careful work, attention to 
minutiae, especially of cleanliness and neatness and practice. 

Since the first edition was published in 1906, there has been 
a gradual but a great change in photographic practice, and 
whole chapters have required rewriting. This was particularly 
the case with the sections on the “Hand-camera” and on 
“ Colour Photography.” Screen-plate work, ozobrome, and 
bromoil, have all been introduced in the interval, while the 
reflex camera, orthochromatic work, and gaslight printing have 
undergone great developments. 

Acknowledgments are due to Sir William Abney and 
General Waterhouse for help on the subjects of colour photo¬ 
graphy and the evolution of photography respectively, to 
Mr. Mummery upon gum-bichromate, to Mr. Stieglitz on 
pictorial work, and to the many able photographers, some 
personal friends and others only known to me by name, who 
have enabled me to illustrate the book with so choice a 
collection of photographic pictures. 


R. C. B. 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE .... 

CHAPTER 

• 

» 

• 

PAG I? 

V 

I. 

THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 

« 

» 

• 

I 

II. 

THE CAMERA 

• 

• 

« 

27 

III. 

THE LENS IN PRINCIPLE . 

• 

• 

• 

42 

IV. 

PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY 

• 

• 

• 

56 

V. 

THE DRAWING OF A PHOTOGRAPH 

• 

• 

• 

6l 

VI. 

THE SELECTION OF A LENS 

• 

• 

• 

CO 

VII. 

THE LENS IN USE 

• 

• 

• 

8l 

VIII. 

PLATES AND FILMS • 

• 

• 

• 

88 

IX. 

THE DARK ROOM . . * 

• 

• 

t 

97 

X. 

EXPOSURE .... 

• 


• 

109 

XI. 

DEVELOPMENT 

• 

* 

• 

123 

XII. 

INTENSIFICATION AND REDUCTION 

* 

• 

% 

T42 

XIII. 

THE HAND-CAMERA t 

♦ 

• 


U 7 

XIV. 

THE PRINT . * 

• 


• 

178 

XV. 

PLATINUM PRINT NG . 

vil 

» 

• 

* 

196 





• • • 

Vlll 

THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 



CHAPTER 

XVI. 

THE CARBON PROCESS 

• • 

♦ 

• 

PAOB 

210 

XVII. 

BROMIDE PAPERS. 

• • 

• 

• 

253 

XVIII. 

ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING . 

« 

• 

265 

XIX. 

ORTHOCHROMATIC AND COLOUR 

PHOTOGRAPHY 

• 

• 

286 

XX. 

DODGING AND “ FAKING ” 

• • 

• 

• 

3 12 

XXI. 

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY 

• • 

• 

• 

328 

XXII. 

ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY 

• 

• 

• 

339 

XXIII. 

PORTRAITURE 

• 

• • 

• 

• 

349 

XXIV. 

PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 

• l 

• 

• 

363 

XXV. 

EXHIBITIONS AND SOCIETIES 

• • 

• 

• 

383 

XXVI. 

PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE PRINTING PRESS 

• 

• 

394 


l’envoi , . 

• 0 

• 

• 

405 




• 4ii 


INDEX 







LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


FULL PAGE 


The Jester. By Frank H. Read .... Frontispiece 

PAGE 


The Swans. By W. C. S. Fergusson .... 4 

On THE Arun. By Charles Job ..... 10 

The Thames at Hampton. By J. Craig Annan . . . 16 

An Alpine Ski-runner. By Ward Muir . . . .20 

On the Banks of the Lea. By J. H. Anderson . . 24 

Tivoli. By John H. Gear . ..... 30 

The White Sail. By Alexander Keighley . . . .38 

The Village Preacher. By Dan Dunlop . . .48 

Rodin, le penseur. By Steichen ..... 56 

Three Photographs from the Same Standpoint. By R. F. 

Sherar ........ 65 

A Dutch Canal. By James C. Batkin . . . .72 

The Forth Bridge. By H. Wild . . ... 80 

The River Aire at Leeds. By J. Croisdale Coultas . . 88 

Frank Brangwyn. By Alvin Langdon Coburn . . .96 

Patience. By Hugh Cecil ...... 104 

Landscape. By Charles Job . . . . . .112 

Grannie’s Tired Bairn. By John Hepburn . . .116 

A Street in Coutances. By Herbert Bairstow . . .122 

In an Old Church. By Henry W. Bennett . . . 128 

Venice—Early Morning. By R. Child Bayley . . .132 

November. By Fred Judge . . . . . .138 

The New Song. By E. T. Holding .... 142 

The Church of England. By Walter Bennington . .152 

Santa Maria Della Salute. By Percy Lewis . . .160 

An Arab Chief. By W. G. Meredith . . • .164 

ix 




X 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


PAGH 

A South Coast Quay. By Bertram C. Wickison . . 168 

Honesty. By John M. Whitehead . . . . .176 

The Pool. By R. B. Penman . . . . .182 

The Orchard. By Clarence White . . . .184 

Playtime. By Will Cadby . . . . . .192 

Miss Minnie Ashley. By Mrs. Kasebier .... 200 

Daisies. By Carine Cadby ...... 208 

The Quay. By T. F. Brogden ..... 216 

Briar Rose. By J. Cruwys Richards .... 224 

Wassili Safonoff. By Furley Lewis .... 230 

Snow. By Robert Demachy ...... 234 

A Road in the Fens. By J. C. S. Mummery (one coating) . 238 

A Road in the Fens. By J. C. S. Mummery (two coatings) . 240 

Montmartre. By C. Puyo ...... 248 

St. Martin’s Summer, By Mrs. Dumas .... 256 

Windless. By W. Thomas ...... 264 

Grannie’s Stocking. By Archibald Cochrane . . . 272 

Going to the Post. By Alfred Stieglitz . . . 280 

A Water Byeway. By Mrs. Wootton .... 288 

A Wind Sea. By F. J. Mortimer . . . . .316 

Two Prints from the Same Negative. By C. J. Harrison . 318 

Porch, Bergamo Cathedral. By Ernest Marriage . . 320 

A Vignette. By H. Wild . . . . . .325 

A Decorative Panel. By David Blount .... 330 

Zuleika. By William Crooke ..... 336 

The Onion Field. By George Davison .... 340 

Wirksworth Church. By W. R. Bland .... 346 

The Dewdrop in the Sunbeam. By Miss Kate Smith . 349 

Harvest Mouse. By Douglas English . . . *352 

Dr. Munro (1846). By David Octavius Hill . . . 354 

The House on the Wall. By Charles H. L. Emanuel . 356 

Tennyson. By Mrs. Cameron . . . . , 358 

Aubrey Beardsley. By Frederick H. Evans . . . 360 

A Lion. By W. L. F. Wastell . . . . , 35 2 

Table Talk By Herbert Mills ..... 360 

Wings of the Morning. By Chas. E. Wanless . . .368 

A Castle of Romance. By James McKissack . . . 375 

Evening on the Marsh. By S. L. Coulthurst . . . 384 

The Downfall—Peak of Derbyshire. By W. R. Bland . 304 








LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


xi 


IN THE TEXT 
no. 

1. An Early Camera, and Diagrams showing the Analogy 

between it and the Eye. (“ Lemons de Physique.” 
Nolet. Paris : 1755) ..... 

2. The Camera used by Daguerre 

3. Apparatus for developing a Daguerreotype Plate 

4. Central Swing to the Camera 

5. Bottom Swing ...... 

6. Landscape Pattern Camera . 

7. Diagram illustrating Distortion 

8. Plane Perspective — Panoramic or Cylindrical Per 

spective ...... 

9. Pre-Anastigmat Lenses—Some well-known Types 

10. A Telephoto Lens—The “Telecentric” . 

11. The Light which causes Halation . 

12. The Halation Image ..... 

13. The Actinograph . . . . . 

14. Watkins Standard Exposure Meter/ 

15. Trimming a Print to ensure Parallelism 

16. Section of Carbon Tissue .... 

17. Section of Carbon Tissue when transferring . 

18. A Reversing Prism ..... 

19. Hog-hair Softener—Camel-hair Mop 

20. Gum-bichromate Printing-board . . 

21. Spray Diffuser in Bottle .... 

22. Marion’s Print-testing-frame 

23. Diagram of the Function of a Condenser • 

24. Diagram of the Function of a Condenser 

25. Diagram of the Function of a Diffuser. • 

26. Illumination by means of a Reflector . 

27. An Enlarging Lantern ..... 

28. A Parabolic Reflector for Enlarging 

29. Arrangement for Enlarging with a Camera . 

30. Enlarging by Daylight with a Camera . . 

31. Diagram showing the Cure of Distortion 

32. A Portable Lantern Screen .... 


PAGB 


6 

17 

18 

31 

31 

40 

51 

67 

70 

77 

93 

95 

119 

120 

191 

212 

212 

224 

239 

241 

243 

258 

266 

266 

269 

269 

270 

271 
271 

273 

274 
284 






























































































THE 

COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


CHAPTER I 

THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 

The twofold nature of photography—Roger Bacon’s speculum—Barbaro’s first 
camera obscura with lens—Marshall’s scioptricks—Chester More Hall and the 
achromatic lens—The legend of Fabricius—Schulze discovers the sensitiveness 
of silver nitrate to light—Beccari and horn silver—Charles the aeronaut and the 
alleged silhouettes—The Wedgwood circle—The elder Niepce and bitumen— 
Daguerre discovers daguerreotype — Talbot—Photography an accomplished 
fact—Wet collodion—The first dry plates—Developments with bichromated 
gelatine—Willis’s platinotype—Vogel discovers orthochromatism—The gelatine 
dry plate—Bromide paper and P.O.P.—The first Kodak—Celluloid film—The 
evolution of the modern lens. 

T HE telegraph, the steam-engine, the dynamo, the motor 
car, most notable applications of the great forces of 
nature to the service of man, are the product, not of the single 
inspiration of brilliant genius, but of toiling and plodding on 
the part of many often obscure and unrecognized inventors. 
The photograph, as we have it to-day, is no exception. It is 
the final outcome of two distinct chains of invention, each 
with its beginning hidden in the mist of antiquity. ^ The 
forging of their links has been the work of many hands, and 
the credit of the production of either, much less of the result of 
their union, the photograph, must be shared by a score or more 
at the very fewest. But just as in the case of the telegraph, 
where the w'ork of Wheatstone and Cooke suddenly crystallized 
into practical form the results of a long series of discoveries, 
of Porta and Galvani and Volta, of Oersted and Weber and 
Faraday, so the processes of Daguerre and Talbot, based on 
the work of Schulze, Scheele, and Wedgwood in one line, and 
of Aristotle, Euclid, Alhazen, Bacon, Barbaro, Porta, Kepler, 
b i 


2 THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 

as well as less-known physicists, in the other, enable us to fix 
the “ discovery of photography,” in the popular sense, as taking 
place some time between 1834 and 1837* The reservation . in 
the popular sense” is necessary, as, in the strict etymological 
sense, “ photographs ”—that is, “ light-drawings ’ —were made in 
1727 or earlier; but a photograph in common parlance means 
a picture produced by the camera, and those of Schultz were 
made by contact, while some of Niepce’s bitumen plates bore 
negative images obtained in the camera it is true, but scarcely 
pictures. Great as was the step made by Daguerre, its im¬ 
portance was hardly recognized at the time, if we are to 
judge from the fact that the French Government awarded an 
annual pension of ^240 to him, and of ;£i6o to his partner 
Niepce, in return for which princely remuneration, the discovery 
was to be thrown open to the world. To form a correct notion 
of his work, and that of his contemporaries, notably Talbot 
and Herschel, we must turn to the earlier pages of the record. 

I 

The operations which constitute photograptiy are twofold— 
first, the formation of a light-image by the lens and camera; 
and, second, the fixing or recording of that image by chemical 
means. The discovery that images could be seen of necessity 
preceded the search for a chemical method of recording them, 
and, as a matter of fact, we find that the camera obscura was 
familiar for centuries before there is any evidence of an attempt 
to fix its pictures. 

In Eastern lands, where science had its earliest votaries, 
houses are dark within while the scene without is bright. How 
early in point of time it was noticed that when one small hole 
in a darkened room allowed the light to enter, a picture of 
what was going on outside was visible on the opposite wall, 
it is impossible to say. But where the conditions were so 
favourable it must have attracted the attention of such close 
observers of nature as the Chaldean and Egyptian sages. 
Aristotle notes that when the sun shines through a square 
hole upon some surface at a distance from it, the spot of light 
is not the shape of the hole, but is circular, and that during an 
eclipse the spot takes the shape of the sun for the time being. 


THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 


8 


Euclid also combined instruction with amusement when 
demonstrating to his pupils the rectilinear passage of light* 
by the projection of images of outside objects in a darkened 
room, through an aperture in the window shutter. These 
cases are parallel to that of a camera with a pinhole instead 
of a lens, still sometimes used by photographers. From the 
room with its accidental chink and whitened wall, to a structure 
made for the express purpose of showing such images, cannot 
have been a great step; but no trace remains of the man who 
made the first intentional stride towards photography. Firm 
ground is only reached when we get to Roger Bacon’s 
“ Perspectiva,” written about 1267, wherein he describes, not 
very clearly it is true, an apparatus with a speculum, by 
which it is possible to see images of what is going on in the 
street, so that “those looking will run to the image and think 
the things are there when there is nothing but merely an 
apparition.” Bacon speaks of a “speculum,” or mirror, and 
one of the earliest forms of camera used in photography actually 
had a mirror instead of a lens, although for practical purposes, 
except in celestial photography, the mirror was soon abandoned 
for the lens. The first record of a box for viewing or project¬ 
ing pictures is of one constructed in 1437 by L. B. Alberti, 
which was probably a rough form of camera obscura or magic 
lantern. Leonardo da Vinci, who was well versed in optics and 
in the theory of vision, has left unpublished manuscripts, now 
in the Biblioth^que Nationale at Paris, which contain a very 
distinct account of a pinhole camera, with a diagram ; but he 
does not claim it as his invention, nor even as a novelty. As 
Leonardo da Vinci died in 1519, it is clear that at whatever 
period of his life this was written, it must have been long 
before the time of Giovanni Battista della Porta. Porta is, 
however, generally quoted as the inventor of the camera obscura, 
which he describes in his “ Magica Naturalis” published in 
Naples in 1558. In this book the camera is provided with a 
“ speculum ”— i.e. a mirror—and it was left for Daniello Barbaro 
to give the first account of a camera with a lens, which he did 
in a work on perspective, published at Venice in 1568. Barbaro 
not only describes a camera and lens, but actually alludes to 
the use of a stop in sharpening up the picture. The passage is 
remarkable enough to quote in full. 


4 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


“ Having made a hole in the window of the room from 
which you wish to observe, as large as a spectacle-glass, then 
take an old man’s glass convex on both sides, not concave, 
like the glasses of youths with short sight, and when it is 
fixed in the hole, shut all the doors and windows of the room 
50 that no light may enter except by the lens. Now take a 
sheet of paper and place it in front of the glass, so that you 
see clearly all that is outside the house. This takes place 
most distinctly at a determinate distance, found by bringing 
the paper nearer to or farther from the glass till you have 
found the proper position. Here you will see the images on 
the paper as they are, and the gradations, colours, shadows, 
movements, clouds, the rippling of water, birds flying, and 
everything that can be seen. For this experiment the sun 
must be clear and bright, because the sunlight has greater 
power in bringing out the visible images. When it pleases 
you to make the experiment, you should choose the glasses 
which do best, and should cover the glass so much that you 
leave a little of the circumference in the middle which should 
be clear and open, and you will see a still brighter effect. 
(This seems to be the first mention of the use of a diaphragm 
in sharpening the image.) Seeing, therefore, on the paper the 
outline of things, you can draw with a pencil all the per¬ 
spective, and the shading and colouring, according to nature, 
holding the paper tightly till you have finished the drawing." * 

Not Barbaro only, but another Venetian, Benedetti, refers 
to the use of a camera and lens some years before it was 
published by Porta in the second edition of the work to which 
reference has already been made. The early history of the 
camera has been the subject of a long and painstaking in¬ 
vestigation by Major-General Waterhouse, and it is curious 
to notice that he was led to anticipate that the invention 
might very likely be found to proceed from Venice, from the 
fact that the seat of glass manufacture in those times was 
there. He seems to have left no room for doubt that Porta 
not only was anticipated by Bacon, Da V-inci, and others in 

* “ La Pratica, della Perspettiva,” by Monsignor Daniel Barbaro, eletlo Patri- 
archa d’Aquileia, Venice, 1568. Translation in “ Notes on the Early History of 
the Camera Obscura,” by Major-General Waterhouse. The Photographic Journal , 
N.S., xxv. pp, 270 et seq.y from which much in this chapter has been taken. 



BY W. C, 


S. FERGUSSON 










THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 


5 


the description of a darkened room and pinhole, which had 
been utilized by Maurolycus, Reinhold, and others for observing 
eclipses from 1520 onwards, but also by Barbaro and Benedetti 
with the camera and lens. Another link with Venice is found 
in the biography of the Venetian painter Canaletto, who seems 
to have been the first artist to make use of the camera in 
obtaining the outlines of his subjects. The man who really 
turned the camera obscura to practical use as a sketching 
instrument, and laid down the optical principles on which the 
projection of images by single lenses or combinations of them 
depended, was the great astronomer, Johann Kepler, in his 
optical treatise “ Dioptrice ” (1611). When Sir W. Wotton 
visited Kepler in 1620, he saw a landscape drawing executed 
by the aid of a portable camera, and wrote a quaint description 
of it to Lord Bacon, from which an extract was published in 
a book called “Graphice; or, The Most Excellent Art of 
Painting,” printed for R. Crofts in 1658. 

“ The draught of a landskip mathematicall; they that have 
leasure, and desire thereto, may make experiment. A Land- 
skip. Set up a little black tent in a field, made easie, portable 
and convertible, as a windmill, to all quarters at pleasure; 
capable of no more than one man with little ease; exactly 
close and dark, save at one hole, an inch and a half diameter, 
to which apply a long prospective trunck, with a convex glasse ; 
fitted to the said hole, and the concave taken out at the other 
end, which extendeth into (about) the middle of this erected 
tent, through which the visible radiations of all the objects 
without, are intermitted, falling upon a paper which is accom¬ 
modated to receive them, and so trace them with pen in their 
naturall appearance, turning this your little tent round by 
degrees, till you have designed the whole aspect of the place. 
There is good use hereof in chorography ; but to make landskips 
hereby were too illiberall. Surely no painter could exceed the 
precisenesse of these.” 

The “ Scioptrick ball ” was a wooden globe pierced and 
fitted at one end of the opening with a lens. The ball was so 
held that it could be turned about, and a camera fitted with it 
was sold in 1704 by Mr. Marshall at “the Archimedes” on 
Ludgate Hill. Such cameras were called “ Scioptricks.” In 
the latter half of the eighteenth century the camera seems to 


6 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


have become quite common, both as a show and for sketching 
purposes. There were many besides Canaletto who did not 
hold with Crofts that its use “were too illiberall.” Some were 
made with mirrors to get over the difficulty of the picture 



Fig. x.— An Early Camera, and diagrams showing the analogy between it and the eye 

(“ Lemons de Physique." Nolet. Paris: 1755.) 

being reversed or wrong way about, some were large and the 
observers got inside, others small and portable and fitted with 
a mirror within, which reflected the image on to a horizontal 
screen on the top of the box. Such an instrument is figured in 
“Lemons de Physique,” by the Abbe Noliet, published in Paris 













































THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 


7 


in 1755, and the plate, which we reproduce, is of interest, as 
demonstrating the analogy between the camera and the eye, 
and the fact that the nearer the object is brought to the lens, 
the further away on the other side of the lens is the sharp 
image. 

A discovery which ultimately had a very important bearing 
on photography had in the mean time been made by an Essex 
gentleman, an astronomer, Mr. Chester More Hall. He, like all 
other users of lenses, had been inconvenienced by their want of 
what is now spoken of as “ achromatism.” Any lens made of 
a single piece of glass not only refracts or bends aside the light 
which passes through it, but bends each colour to a different 
extent. The result is that images with such lenses appear to 
have coloured edges or fringes surrounding them, especially 
when the lenses are used as they are in telescopes. It was 
generally supposed, on no less an authority than that of Sir 
Isaac Newton, that this defect was insurmountable. In 
his “ Optics ” Newton stated that “ refraction could not be 
produced without colour,” for which reason “ no improvement 
could be expected in the refracting telescope.” Hall, however, 
found that, contrary to Newton’s supposition, all glass, while 
bending or refracting the light, did not separate the colours to 
the same extent, and that it was possible by combining lenses 
of two different kinds of glass (crown and flint) to make a 
compound or “achromatic” lens, which should form an image 
without separating the different colours at all, or at least 
perceptibly. He took no pains to make his invention public, 
however, and the discovery of the achromatic lens is, therefore, 
often attributed to John Dollond, an optician, who described 
to the Royal Society in 1758 how it was possible to remedy 
both “chromatic aberration” and “spherical aberration ”>by 
making lenses of more kinds of glass than one. This was the 
foundation stone on which all modern lenses for the microscope 
and telescope as well as for the camera, with their exquisite 
perfection of design, construction, and performance, have been 
made. Lenses made on this principle to give the best results to 
the eye, as in the telescope, are not the best suited to photo¬ 
graphic uses; and the construction of a properly corrected 
photographic lens was not put in hand until the demands 
of photography called it forth j but the principle of Hail s 


8 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


discovery was none the less important, and when lenses for 
photography were wanted, it was only necessary to modify the 
glasses and their curvatures to accommodate the lens to the 
new requirements. 

This has brought us down to the latter part of the eighteenth 
century, when the first recorded attempt was made to fix the 
images obtained in the camera, by applying the existing know¬ 
ledge of the chemical action of light. But before we can under¬ 
stand the nature of this attempt, we must retrace our steps, 
and see what the chemists had done while the physicists were 
evolving the camera. 


II 

It must have been noticed at a very early date indeed that 
light affected certain bodies in an unmistakable manner. 
Probably the first of its effects to attract observation was the 
fading of dyed fabrics. The famous Tyrian purple we now 
know to have been anything but a permanent colour, and some 
of the cheaper and commoner dye-stuffs of the ancients were 
similarly fleeting. The greatest of all the manifestations of 
light-action, the conversion of carbonic acid and moisture in 
the air into vegetable matter by means of the chlorophyll 
in the leaves of plants, escaped observation until comparatively 
recent years, but very primitive gardeners must have noticed 
that by heaping earth round the stems of plants, the parts so 
protected remained colourless or nearly so, whence the deduc¬ 
tion that in some way the colour is due to light is simple and 
direct. Changes in the colours of fruit and flowers by solariza- 
tion are noticed by Aristotle. 

The beginnings of photographic chemistry are generally 
attributed to the alchemists. These early metallurgists, giving 
much of their time to the investigation of the precious metals, 
undoubtedly succeeded in making silver nitrate and possibly 
silver chloride; but if they noticed that fabrics treated with 
either substances turned dark when exposed to light, they 
have not recorded the fact. 

The first accounts of silver ores and native silver chloride, 
or ‘‘horn silver/’ which were sometimes observed to change 

o 


THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 9 

"N 

colour after being extracted from the mines, are found in the 
metallurgical writings of Agricola, Fabricius, Kentmann, and 
others living in the Saxon mining districts round Meissen, and 
familiar with the minerals found there. Fabricius, a Saxon 
scholar and poet of the sixteenth century, who wrote a short 
supplement to Agricola’s great work on metals and mining, 
has generally, but quite erroneously, been looked upon as an 
alchemist, and has been the subject of a curious legend, started 
apparently by a French historian of photography. Fabricius, 
so it is said, not only prepared silver chloride, but found that 
“ it became suddenly black as soon as a ray of sunlight fell on 
its surface ”—which it certainly does not—and acting on the 
hint this phenomenon afforded, he projected upon the surface ol 
silver chloride the image formed by a glass lens, which im¬ 
printed itself thereupon, and so made the first photograph. 
Unfortunately, an examination of the works of Fabricius 
reveals no account of any experiment so remarkable; he 
refers to a semi-transparent, horn-coloured ore of silver, or to 
the form of silver chloride known as “horn silver,” but ap¬ 
parently he was not aware of its most remarkable character¬ 
istic of changing colour in light. The writings of the alchemists 
have many references to silver nitrate, and Porta, who did not 
invent the camera, was certainly familiar with this salt, though 
he did not know that it was sensitive to light. He observes 
that it is possible to disguise one’s self by applying a solution 
of silver nitrate all over the body—a most effective method, no 
doubt. 

The actual discovery that light was the active agent in 
causing this darkening of silver nitrate was made by Johann 
Heinrich Schulze, and, like many another, was purely accidental. 
He tells us that, wishing to treat some chalk with nitric acid, 
he happened to use acid he had at hand in which a little silver 
had been dissolved. Mixing this with the chalk, and working 
near a window, he was surprised to find that the mixture in 
the dish turned dark where the direct rays of the sun fell upon 
it, but was unaltered in the parts not reached by the sunlight. 
Ttie fact that struck him most was that the result of the action 
of light should be darkness. We have to view the experiment 
through the theories of a couple of centuries ago, to realize 
how strange this must have seemed to Schulze. It attracted 


10 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


his attention so strongly that he laid aside the work on which 
he was engaged, to follow up the clue thus accidentally 
acquired. Friends suggested that the change was due to heat 
and not to light, but this he disproved by showing that it was 
possible to make a bottle of the mixture so hot in front of a 
fire that the hand could not bear it, and yet not get the darken¬ 
ing that sunlight soon brought about. He thought at first 
that his sensitive material was made by the mixture of chalk 
and aqua fortis, but failed to get any darkening when these 
substances were used. It was only after many experiments 

that he recollected that there was silver in the acid he had first 

• 

used, and then by saturating acid with silver he got more 
marked results than at first He cut out letters and figures 
from sheets of opaque paper, and putting these round bottles 
of the mixture and exposing them to light, he obtained true 
photographic impressions, but written, if not in sand, in still 
less stable material For we must not forget that Schulze’s 
bottles contained nothing but a kind of chalky sludge, and it 
needed but a swirl to mix up the contents and the images 
disappeared in a moment. None the less, for the first time he 
had produced images by means of light, and intentionally ; and 
that first step, if not taking him far on the road towards 
photography as we know it, was at least the first step, and a 
notable one. He published an account of his experiments in 
the Acta of the Caesarean Academy for 1727 ; and there 
seems every reason to believe that it was from an account of 
Schulze’s experiments that Wedgwood got the suggestion for 
his own. 

The sensitive material in Schulze’s experiments was silver 
nitrate, and it is possible that the effect of light upon it was 
noticed before his time; for he himself remarks, in the paper 
in which he published an account of them, that he had “often 
found a solution of silver made with aqua fortis does not get 
dark in a quite dark place, while when exposed to the sun a 
dark red colour is induced, verging afterwards towards blue.” 
The chalk was only a vehicle, and he found that magnesia, 
“ceruss of lead,” and other substances could be employed in a 
similar manner. Silver chloride, or luna cornea, it was long 
known, gradually darkened in colour when exposed; but it 
was assumed, as by Robert Boyle, that the darkening was due 











THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 


11 


to the air. Thirty years after Schulze, Beccari of Bologna 
suspected that this change was due to light. He enclosed 
some of the luna cornea in a glass vessel and placed it in front 
of a window, but some distance within the room. He soon 
found that the side turned towards the window had changed to 
violet, while the back remained white. On the vessel, over 
parts of the unaltered chloride, he stuck black paper, and 
exposed it to light until the following day, when he found that 
the substance had turned violet everywhere except where the 
paper had protected it. 

Schulze’s experiments were repeated by Dr. William Lewis 
of Kingston-on-Thames, who carried his investigations into the 
action of light much further. He found that ivory, bone, 
wood, and stone, treated with nitrate darkened in sunshine, 
and observed that compounds of bismuth, of gold, and of 
mercury were light-sensitive. At the death of Dr. Lewis in 
1781 his manuscript note-books were purchased by Josiah 
Wedgwood, the potter, who also took his assistant, Mr. 
Chicholm, Chisholm, or Chisolm into his service, as secretary 
and chemical assistant; but in this we are anticipating. 

The next stage was an important one, and was made at the 
other end of Europe. Carl Wilhelm Scheele, of Stralsund, 
knowing doubtless of the discovery of Schulze, and that silver 
chloride as well as silver nitrate was affected by light, set him¬ 
self to find out the nature of the change, and to ascertain 
whether all kinds of light affected the silver salt equally. By 
a series of experiments he convinced himself that silver chloride 
in sunshine was converted into metallic silver, which was the 
dark-coloured product, and that if it were exposed under 
water, the water subsequently contained muriatic acid. Liquor 
ammonia, the alchemists knew, was a solvent of silver chloride. 
Scheele found that it did not dissolve the darkened product 
obtained by exposing silver chloride to light. It does not 
appear that he realized from this that it might possibly act as 
what we now describe as a “fixing” agent; and in the sub¬ 
sequent experiments of Wedgwood there is no mention of 
ammonia being tried for this purpose, though he found he was 
quite unable to fix his pictures. Throwing upon a surface 
sensitized with silver chloride the band of coloured light from 
a prism, Scheele found that the darkening action took place 


12 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


more quickly in the violet than in the other colours. He must 
have performed this experiment in a very casual manner, as he 
failed to notice that quite half of his visible band of colours, the 
green probably and the yellow and red certainly, had no effect 
on the chloride at all. Scheele published an account of his 
work in 1777. In 1801, Ritter, repeating these experiments 
more carefully, found that not only was the sensitive substance 
unaffected by red, yellow, and green light, but that there 
existed invisible radiations—now known as the ultra-violet— 
which changed it even more powerfully and quickly than 
violet light itself. 

Prof. Jacques Alexandre Cesar Charles, a public lecturer 
on physics in Paris, is said by Frenchmen (on extremely doubt¬ 
ful grounds) to have made silhouettes by casting the shadow of 
a person’s profile on paper made sensitive with a salt of silver. 
Charles was a notable man in his time. He was the first to 
ascend in a free balloon ; and he fought and wounded Marat, 
with whom he had some difference on a scientific subject. No 
record whatever of his alleged experiments seems to exist, and 
the basis for the claim is an assertion made in 1839 by Arago. 
He dated the experiments as being made in “ the first years of 
the nineteenth century.” 

This sketch has now brought us down to the end of the 
eighteenth century. By that time scientific men at least were 
familiar with the fact that some mineral compounds were 
sensitive to light, and that minute holes, mirrors, and lenses 
were each capable of forming an image of external objects on 
a suitably placed surface. It remained to apply the one 
process to the other to produce a camera picture, and the 
attempts, unsuccessful and successful, to do this form the 
third stage in photographic history. 


Ill 

Pre-photographic legends of pictures made by natural or by 
magical means are in existence, the Chinese, of course, having a 
tradition of this kind ; but the most explicit accounts are to be 
found in the two French works “ Un Voyage Supposd,” by 
Fenelon, published in 1690. and “ Giphantie,” by Tiphaigne de 


THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 


13 


la Roche, published in 1760. These are curious anticipations 
of photographic processes, but are not sufficiently definite even 
to suggest the problem to an experimenter, and it is not at all 
likely that either was known to those who subsequently took 
up the task of making photography possible. 

In the latter part of the eighteenth century a remarkable 
group of men were living in the Midlands, scattered about, it is 
true, but meeting from time to time, frequently corresponding, 
and constantly in sympathy, if not always in agreement. The 
best known of the group are Dr. Priestley, Josiah Wedgwood, 
James Watt and Matthew Boulton his partner, and Dr. Erasmus 
Darwin, a naturalist himself, and grandfather of a still more 
famous one. In 1771 was born to Josiah and Sarah Wedgwood 
a fourth son and fifth child, Thomas. Dr. Priestley, in 1772, 
published his “ History of Discoveries relating to Light Vision 
and Colour,” in which are described the experiments of Schulze 
and of Beccari already referred to. In 1782, we have seen that 
Chisolm, who had been Dr. Lewis’s assistant, came to Josiah 
Wedgwood at Etruria, and amongst his other duties, he seems 
to have had much to do with the education of “ Tom ” Wedg¬ 
wood. It is not surprising that a lad reared under these 
conditions, if of scientific taste at all—and Tom Wedgwood’s 
tastes were markedly scientific—should have his attention drawn 
very strongly to these experiments with salts of silver. Wedg¬ 
wood’s scientific experimenting began before he was of age, 
and there is some reason for supposing that the work described 
to the Royal Institution in 1802 was performed in or about 
1790-1792. 

The great merit of Wedgwood as a photographic pioneer 
lay in the fact that he was the first to realize that it might be 
possible to use the light-sensitive properties of substances to 
make permanent the images given by the camera obscura. He 
was a confirmed invalid, dying at the age of thirty-four, and the 
latter years of his life were almost entirely spent in travel in 
search of health. Hence the extremely casual and unsatis¬ 
factory way in which the report of his photographic work has 
come down to us. It is contained in the first and only volume 
of the “Journals of the Royal Institution,” and is entitled 
“ An account of a method of copying paintings upon glass, and 
of making Profiles, by the agency of Light upon Nitrate of 


14 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


silver. Invented by T. Wedgwood, Esq. With observations 
by H. Davy.” In this account, which seems to have been 
written by Davy, we are told that white paper or white leather 
moistened with solution of silver nitrate speedily changes colour 
on being exposed to light. Red rays have very little effect on 
it, yellow and green are more efficacious, but blue and violet 
light produce the most decided and powerful effects. The 
leather he found more readily acted upon than the paper, an 
observation in which lay the germ of “development.” The 
phrase “ paintings on glass ” in the title refers to originals so 
prepared, from which copies could be printed on the sensitive 
paper or leather, in the method now so well known. Wedgwood 
failed in his attempts to fix these prints. Repeated washings 
would not remove the unaltered silver compounds sufficiently 
to prevent the white parts darkening when exposed to day¬ 
light afterwards. Varnish was tried without avail, and these 
copies therefore had to be kept in the dark, and examined only 
by the light ur candles or lamps. The following extract 
describes the first recorded attempt to obtain camera pictures :— 

“ The images formed by means of a camera obscura have 
been found too faint to produce, in any moderate time, an effect 
upon the nitrate of silver. To copy these images was the first 
object of Mr. Wedgwood in his researches on the subject, and 
for this purpose he first used the nitrate of silver, which was 
mentioned to him by a friend as a substance very sensible to 
the influence of light; but all his numerous experiments as to 
their primary end proved unsuccessful. In following these 
processes, I (Davy) have found that the images of small objects, 
produced by means of the solar microscope, may be copied 
without difficulty on prepared paper. However, it is necessary 
that the paper be placed at but a small distance from the 
lens.” 

Here ended Wedgwood’s invention: the fixing difficulty 
seemed to be insurmountable. Yet several substances were 
available had he known, and the universally used fixing agent 
“hypo” had been discovered by Chaussier in 1799. This 
difficulty discouraged others from working at the process, and 
Talbot himself, nearly fifty years afterwards, said that he learnt 
of the property of hypo before he read of Wedgwood’s work, or 
he too might have been discouraged. The light-sensitiveness 


THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 


15 


of silver compounds was neglected from the date of the publica¬ 
tion of Wedgwood and Davy’s account for more than a quarter 
of a century. Wedgwood himself died July io, 1805. 

The next stage is curious, because it ignored almost all 
that had gone before, and started on a completely fresh line. 
Joseph Nicdphore Niepce, a middle-aged country gentleman 
living at Gras, near Chalon-sur-Saone, in South-Eastern France, 
was interested in the then novel process of lithography. His 
lithographic experiments commenced in 1813, and led him from 
the use of stones to that of metal plates, which he coated with 
various “varnishes.” From this stage he was tempted to try 
to transfer to the plates, by the action of light, the line pictures 
which formed his originals. By 1816 he had succeeded in 
doing so, although in all probability, when so transferred, he 
could not copy them by “ lithography ” or any of its modifica¬ 
tions. Two years later, as shown by his published correspond¬ 
ence, he was trying to get camera pictures by his method. He 
succeeded, although the exact date when he did so is uncertain. 
His great originality lay in the abandonment of silver salts as 
sensitisers, and in the use of resinous substances instead. Of these 
he found, in 1826, that “bitumen of Judea” was the most satis¬ 
factory. This mineral pitch or asphaltum he discovered to be 
soluble in oil of lavender except where light had acted on it. 
By giving a thin coating of the bitumen to a metal plate, 
exposing this to light under an engraving or design, and then 
washing the surface of the plate with certain essential oils—oil of 
lavender being the best for the purpose—the bitumen where the 
light had not acted washed away, where it had acted it remained. 
The result was a copy of the engraving, the lines being repre¬ 
sented by bare metal, the clear spaces by bitumen. 

The designs Niepce obtained in this way he called “helio¬ 
graphs,” and many efforts were made by him both to make 
them more easily visible and to find some means of printing 
from these metal plates. The most promising methods were 
by acting upon the bare metal in those parts whence the 
rutumen had been washed away; this he did with various 
acids, and with iodine (which had been discovered in 1812 by 
Curtois). In the Chalon museum is an old print, oiled to 
make it translucent, and a number of proofs from it, which are 
said to have been printed from an engraved plate made in this 


16 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


manner in 1826. This process of Niepce is remarkable, in that 
it was in extensive use until quite recently, some of the modern 
half-tone and line work having been printed on copper or zinc 
by a process to all intents and purposes that worked out at 
Chalon eighty years ago. The bitumen process, like some of 
the simpler organisms in nature, outlasted many of the more 
complex and elaborate methods of later date. It has now given 
way almost entirely to methods in which the action of light on 
a bichromated colloid is employed. 

In the mean time a reputation had been made which ex¬ 
tended far beyond its centre, Paris, by a very clever stage 
artist—he was much more than a scene-painter—named Louis 
Jacques Mand6 Daguerre. He showed himself remarkably 
skilful in scenic effects, which reached their highest point in 
the Diorama, an entertainment he devised which was popular 
for many years. Daguerre had few of the characteristics of 
the conventional inventor; he was a gay man-about-town, and 
his career, to put it very mildly, would hardly commend itself 
to the worthy Dr. Smiles. He must have had much origin¬ 
ality, however, and undoubted patience. Somewhere about 
1824 he first entertained the idea of fixing the images of the 
camera obscura, an instrument he used in his scene paintings. 
He heard of the work of Niepce in 1826, wrote him, and the 
two inventors met in i827.(STwo years later they entered into 
an agreement for ten years to work at the subject for their 
joint advantage, each communicating his results to the other. 
Until the death of Niepce in 1833, Daguerre seems to have 
worked on the lines of the bitumen process, in the details of 
which he effected some improvements. After that date, how¬ 
ever, acting very possibly on a hint given to him by attempts 
to etch silver plates with iodine, he took up a distinctly novel 
line, which gave promising results in 1835, and in 1837 was 
sufficiently perfected to be the subject of a fresh agreement 
with the son of the first Niepce. The process, after an un¬ 
successful attempt to form a company, was given to the world 
in return for a pension from the French Government. 

Daguerre’s process was an immense advance in sensitiveness 
on everything which had gone before it; when details had 
been modified a little, it was even capable of being used for 
portraiture from life. It was, moreover, a positive process, not 



THE THAMES AT HAMPTON 







THE EVOLUTION OE PHOTOGRAPHY 


17 



a negative one, and was more strikingly original than any 
other method, introduced before or since. A highly polished 
silver plate was submitted to the fumes of iodine until it was 
coated with a fine layer of silver iodide, and was then exposed 
in the camera. The plate was next transferred to a box in 

which it was held over a metal 
dish of mercury, heated from be¬ 
neath by a spirit lamp. The vapour 
of mercury ascended, and the metal 
adhered to those parts which had 
been exposed to light, in proportion 
to the strength of the light. The 



Horizontal section. 


Vertical section, 


Fig. 2.—The Camera used by Daguerre. 

“A is a ground glass by which the focus is adjusted; it is then removed and the photographic 
plate substituted, as in C. B is a mirror for observing the effects of objects, and selecting the 
best points of view. It is inclined at an angle of 45 0 by means of the support L. To adjust 
the focus, the mirror is lowered, and the piece of ground glass A used. The focus is easily 
adjusted by sliding the box D out or in, as represented in the plate. When the focus is 
adjusted, it is retained in its place by means of the screw H. The object glass J is 
achromatic and periscopic ; its diameter is about one inch, and its focal distance rather more 
than 14 inches. M is a stop a short distance from the lens, the object of which is to cut 
off all those rays of light which do not come directly from the object to which tt e camera is 
directed. This instrument reverses the objects ; this caa be remedied by using a U jrror outside, 
as at KJ. (“Photography.” By Robert Hunt. 1853.) 


unaltered iodide was dissolved away by means of a solution of 
salt—hypo was subsequently used for the same purpose—and 
the final result was a brilliant, well-defined picture, reversed as 
regards right and left, but with its lights the light-coloured 
mercury compound, and its shadows the polished silver surface, 
which, if held so as to reflect only dark objects, appeared dark ? 
and so made the result a “ positive/' and not a “ negative;” 






































18 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 



though these terms were not introduced until the following 
year, when Herschel employed them u to avoid circumlocution. 

The process was termed Daguerreo¬ 
type, and except for the application 
of bromine to the silver plate along 
with the iodine, made by Goddard 
in 1840, by which its sensitiveness 
was much increased, and a method 
of depositing gold on the image, 
introduced by Fizeau, which gave 
it more vigour and greater perma¬ 
nence, it was not modified or im¬ 
proved. It had a great vogue for 
portraiture from 1840 to 1851, when 
the wet collodion plate speedily 
made daguerreotype obsolete. Its 
exceptional character is shown by 
the fact that no other process 
originated in it, or borrowed any¬ 
thing from it. Daguerreotype, like 
its brilliant discoverer, stands alone 
and independent. Daguerre 
launched upon an astonished world 
a complete and practical photo¬ 
graphic process — the first. It 
existed unmodified until made ob¬ 
solete by a totally dissimilar method, 
when it died almost as suddenly as 
it appeared. 

It is time we got back to Wedgwood, and took up the silver 
nitrate and chloride thread again, which we dropped at his 
death. Nothing of note can be recorded until 1819, when Sir 
John Herschel (Herschel II.) published in the Edinburgh 
Philosophical Journal an account of his investigation into 
“ hyposulphurous acid and its compounds.” One of these is 
the now universally used “ hypo ” (hyposulphite of soda, or 
more correctly sodium thiosulphate), whose solvent properties 
on silver chloride were then not only pointed out, but thoroughly 
examined and described. It was in that paper that Herschel 
drew attention to a fact that many photographers even now 


Fig. 3.—Appar*tus for developing 
a Daguerreotype Plate. 

Ti»e plate H in a wooden holder, B, was 
introduced by means of the lid A. 
Mercury, C, was then volatilized by 
means of the lamp D, the support 
for which, I, was adjustable. A ther¬ 
mometer partly shown at FJ enabled 
the heat to be regulated, while the 
progress of development was watched 
by means of a candle or other feeble 
light through the window G. (“Pho¬ 
tography.” By Robert Hunt.) 



















THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 19 

ignore—that to ensure the complete solution of the silver salt 
there must be a large excess of hypo present. 

We now come to the work of William Henry Fox Talbot, 
an English gentleman of ancient lineage and scientific tastes, 
who is known not only for his photographic discoveries, but as 
one of the first decipherers of the cuneiform inscriptions and 
as a pioneer in modern illustrative methods: the photogravure 
process of to-day also is essentially his invention. He tells us 
in the “Pencil of Nature” that the idea of fixing the camera 
images occurred to him in 1833, and that he began experiment¬ 
ing in 1834. Daguerre’s process was made public in the first 
fortnight in 1839 ; on January 25 of the same year Faraday 
exhibited prints by Talbot, and on January 31 Talbot read 
an account of his process to the Royal Society. We can 
accordingly settle on January, 1839, as the period when photo¬ 
graphy, as we understand it, though still imperfect, first 
became known to be practical. Talbot followed the lines of 
Wedgwood and Davy, but obtained greater sensitiveness by 
forming his silver chloride in the paper in such a way that 
there was left with it an excess of silver nitrate. It was by the 
presence of this silver nitrate that the speed of the paper was 
increased to such an extent that camera pictures became 
possible. During the brilliant summer of 1835, he tells us in 
the work already quoted, he had succeeded in getting camera 
pictures of his own house, Lacock Abbey, on paper sensitized 
by alternate washes of solutions of salt and of silver nitrate. 
The publication early in 1839 of Daguerre’s method frustrated 
his hope of being the first to announce a practical photo¬ 
graphic process, but there is no doubt that for some years 
both he and Daguerre, on different lines, had been making 
pictures in the camera—Daguerre by an original, and it is 
said accidental, discovery, Talbot by a method a direct outcome 
of that of Wedgwood and Davy. Talbot’s first camera pictures, 
however, were not developments of a latent image; but the 
photograph—a negative one, of course—was printed right out 
in the camera. The discovery that a comparatively short 
exposure to light would give an image, but an invisible one, 
in a fraction of the time taken to print it out visibly, was 
made by Daguerre; although his development by mercury 
vapour bears no known relation to any other development 


20 THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 

process, and was quite inapplicable to the paper process of 

Talbot 


IV 

From the time of Talbot and Daguerre the stream of 
invention swept on in an ever-widening flood. The same year 
that marked the publication of their processes saw the dis¬ 
covery by Mungo Ponton,* that paper soaked in potassium 
bichromate was sensitive to light, that it underwent a change 
of colour on exposure, and that the image so obtained could 
not be washed out of the paper, although the bichromate could. 
This observation, to all appearances a curiosicy and little more, 
laid the foundation of the carbon process, of gum bichromate, 
of ozotype, of collotype, of photogravure, of Woodburytype, 
and of some of the half-tone block processes, and, in the variety 
of the methods which sprang from it, has been absolutely 
unrivalled in photographic research. This was in 1839. The 
next year Sir John Herschel made photographs on glass plates 
by depositing silver chloride on them, but as there was nothir. g 
to hold the chloride to the glass and to act as a “ sensitizer,' 
the results were interesting, but no more. 

The calotype process of Talbot must not be confused with 
his first method, in which there was no such thing as develop¬ 
ment Calotype was patented in 1841, and, Daguerre’s being 
first, was the second in which development played any part. 
The development of a calotype is the direct ancestor of the 
development of to-day. Wedgwood had noticed that white 
leather treated with silver nitrate was more sensitive than 
white paper. In 1839, the Rev. J. B. Reade was making pictures 
with the “solar microscope ” f on paper sensitized with silver 
nitrate. To take advantage of Wedgwood’s observation, Mr. 
Reade used all the white kid gloves the household authorities 
could spare, and, the supply falling far short of his require¬ 
ments, thought he would try and “ tan ” paper. Accordingly 

* The fact that paper treated with chromic acid had been sensitive to light was 
known long before Ponton published his discovery. 

f The solar microscope was an instrument in principle like a magic lantern, 
arranged so that a beam of sunlight could pass through the microscope in an 
otherwise darkened room, and project a picture of the object on a small screen 
suitably placed. 



AN ALPINE SKI-RUNNER 

BY WARD MUIR 
































THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 


21 


he treated paper with gallic acid, and found at once that he got 
greater sensitiveness. What he did not note, however, was 
that this action of the gallic acid was exercised during as well 
as after exposure, and that it was, in fact, a “ development ” of 
the latent image. Reade mentioned his discovery to Ross, the 
celebrated optician, who in turn told Talbot, in whose hands 
the observation of Reade rapidly became the “ calotype ” or 
“Talbotype” process. Paper in which silver iodide had been 
formed by alternate treatment with silver nitrate and potassium 
iodide, was washed over with a solution of silver nitrate and 
gallic and acetic acids. After this second application, it was 
highly sensitive, but soon spoilt. On exposure in the camera 
an image rapidly appeared, and was then developed up to full 
vigour by further treatment with the “ gallo-nitrate of silver.” 
A solution of common salt for fixing purposes was suggested 
by Talbot, but was seldom employed, hypo being already known 
in that capacity. 

The same year that saw the patenting of “ calotype ” saw 
another patent granted, to Claudet, for the use of red or yellow 
light to illuminate the dark room, which hitherto had been lit 
only by very feeble artificial white light, such as is given by a 
candle some distance away from the sensitive substance. 

Daguerreotype was largely practised for professional por¬ 
traiture from 1840 to 1852 or 1853, while calotype became for 
a time quite the fashionable craze. Queen Victoria and Prince 
Albert had a studio and dark room at Windsor, and thousands 
of photographers took landscapes with quaint leather-hinged 
folding cameras, and exposures of anything up to an hour or 
more. With calotype, in spite of its slowness—to modern 
eyes_and its difficulties, good work was done; and its in¬ 

sensitiveness did not prevent its use for portraiture, although 
direct sunshine was generally used to cut down exposures as 
much as possible. Some of the work done in 1844 and 1845 by 
D. O. Hill is still in existence, and has pictorial quality which 
enables it to hold its own with work of the present day. The 
“waxed paper process,” a later modification of calotype, was 
popular for landscape work as an amateur’s process for a very 

long time. 

While daguerreotype and calotype flourished, collodion 
was discovered by Prof. Schonbein of Basle, and seemed to 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


offer what photographers had been wanting—namely, a film 
which could be applied to glass and sensitized. Daguerreo* 
types could not be “ printed ; ” while although this was possible 
with “ calotypes,” they gave prints with some degree of coarse¬ 
ness, owing to the fibre of the paper which formed the support 
of the negative. Scott Archer, in 1851, invented the “wet 
plate,” or “wet collodion” process. A glass plate was coated 
with collodion containing metallic iodides, immersed in a 
solution of silver nitrate, exposed while still wet, developed 
with a solution of pyrogallic and acetic acids, and fixed in 
hypo. A negative so obtained gave results equal in fineness 
of definition to anything that can be got to-day, and the wet 
plate process, very slightly modified from the condition in 

which it left the hands of Archer, has been used right up to the 
present time for photo-mechanical work. It is now being sup¬ 
planted by gelatine dry plates, specially made for “ process ” 
work. 

The wet plate was vastly more sensitive than either the 
calotype or the daguerreotype, but only while it was wet. If 
dried, the silver nitrate solution crystallized in the film and 
spoilt it, or if it were washed out, most of the sensitiveness went 
with it. Various ingenious methods were devised to meet this 
difficulty, the most successful being the Taupenot, tannin, and 
collodio-albumen methods, but not till 1864 was an emulsion 
dry plate made. In that year Sayce and Bolton described 
how it was possible to make “ collodion emulsion ”—collodion 
containing silver bromide in suspension, which could be poured 
on to glass and allowed to dry. The plates so prepared would 
keep indefinitely. Collodio-bromide was never as sensitive as 
wet collodion, but it was fast enough, and with its other 
advantages was popular as an amateur’s process. It is still 
made for certain special forms of process work. At one time 
it was very popular for lantern-slide making, yielding trans¬ 
parencies of great richness and brilliancy. 

There was no great change in negative processes until the 
late “ seventies,” though investigation was constantly going 
on, and photographic bypaths were explored and opened up. 
For example, Poitevin, in 1855, used Mungo Ponton’s discovery 
that gelatine treated with bichromate became insoluble in hot 
water after exposure to light, and succeeded in making prints 


THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 


23 


by means of it; but he failed to get half-tones, although blacks 
and whites were yielded readily enough. In 1858 Pouncy 
invented the process now known as gum-bichromate, though 
it dropped out of sight again for many years. Burnett, Blair, 
and Fargier improved upon Poitevin’s attempts, until Joseph 
Wilson Swan, in 1864, patented the carbon process, which, 
with slight but valuable modifications introduced by Johnson 
in 1869 and Sawyer in 1874, is the process as we know it 
to-day. Amongst other inventions of Poitevin was the method 
now known as oil printing. 

On another line, also, work was steadily progressing. 
Herschel, in 1842, published the fact that several iron salts 
were sensitive to light, and shortly afterwards based certain 
printing processes upon it. Some of these survive as the “ blue 
printing ” methods used by engineers and others for copying 
tracings ; the others are obsolete. Hunt, in the fifties, attempted 
to turn the iron in the Herschel pictures into platinum, but 
failed to get a practical result, and it was left for W. Willis, 
in 1873, to patent a process, in which the image was composed, 
to all intents and purposes, of metallic platinum, and therefore 
was as permanent as could well be desired. This process he 
improved in 1878 and 1880, when platinotype as known to-day 
became an accomplished fact, though the prints had to be 
developed in a hot solution of oxalate, the “cold bath platino¬ 
type ” not being introduced until 1892. 

A discovery was made in 1873 by Prof. H. W. Vogel of 
Berlin, the full significance of which was not at first appreciated ; 
in fact, it is only within recent years that its importance is 
being realized, and, what is more, utilized by photographers. 
We have seen that Scheele a hundred years before had noticed 
that all colours did not affect the sensitive substance equally, 
and that yellow, and especially red, seemed to have but little 
effect upon it. Of all colours yellow is the brightest to the 
eye, yet in a photograph yellow appeared quite dark, green 
appeared darker than it should do, and a pure red appeared 
black. Acting on earlier observations by Herschel and Draper, 
that colour sensitiveness of photographic plates and papers was 
dependent upon the absorption of coloured rays by the sensitive 
substance, Vogel found that by adding certain dyes to the 
sensitive plate, it could be made to respond to the colours to 


u 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


which hitherto it had been insensitive. Thus he laid the 
foundation of orthochromatic photography, and cleared the 
ground for “three-colour" and other processes intended to 
give photographs in the colours of nature. The clue once 
provided, the action of thousands of dye-stuffs has since been 
investigated, and although nothing, so far, has been found 
which will make the sensitiveness of a plate to colours corre¬ 
spond with the sensitiveness of our eyes, it has been found 
possible to make plates sensitive to some extent to all colours, 
so that by using them with a coloured screen to cut off some 
of the rays to which the plate is disproportionately sensitive, 
we can obtain a close approximation to a true monochromatic 
rendering. 

The wet collodion and the collodion emulsion processes 
were regarded as marvels of sensitiveness, “ instantaneous ” 
work was done with the former, and the latter was as convenient 
a tourist’s method as photographers could then conceive. 
Attempts were made, however, to find some other and more 
convenient vehicle than collodion, which compelled the use 
of ether and alcohol as solvents, and gave a film which, if 
sensitive and structureless, was extremely tender and destroyed 
by a touch. Gelatine seemed to be what was wanted, and 
Maddox in 1871 succeeded in making negatives by a process 
very much like that of Sayce and Bolton, but substituting 
gelatine for collodion. It was imperfect, however, and offered 
no advantages as far as could then be seen. As collodion 
emulsion for coating plates had been put on the market, 
Kennett, in 1874, prepared gelatine “pellicle"—dried emulsion— 
which was soaked in water, dissolved by heat, and poured on 
the plate. The great merit of the gelatine process was discovered 
by Charles Bennett in 1878, when he found that by keeping 
the emulsion gently heated for some hours or even days, it 
attained a degree of sensitiveness so far in advance of the 
highest reached by the wet plate process, that most of its first 
users failed through their plates being fogged by the dark 
room lights, which for collodion had been safe enough. What 
Bennett did at a gentle heat in days, Mansfield and Bolton 
rendered possible in a few minutes by boiling, and Monckhoven 
without extra heat by the mere addition of ammonia. By 1880 
gelatine dry plates were fairly on the market, exposures had 



ON THE RANKS OF THE LEA 

BY J. H. ANDERSON 










THE EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 


25 


been reduced to fractions of a second and modern photography 
had “ arrived.” 

The eighties saw an immense growth both in commercial and 
in amateur photography. Swan showed that the same prepa¬ 
ration that was applied to glass for negatives could be applied 
to paper for prints, giving us bromide paper. More recently 
Dr. Bakeland introduced a very slow emulsion paper of this 
kind, which could be worked by artificial light without a dark 
room at all. As “ gaslight paper,” or “ developing paper/’ it 
has come to be very largely used, and is now rapidly supplant¬ 
ing “ P.O.P.” referred to below. 

The original silver paper of Talbot underwent little modifi¬ 
cation except that by coating the paper with white of egg, a 
fine surface was given on which to form a picture, thus getting 
“ albumenized paper,” which held its own for nearly fifty years, 
and is responsible for most of the faded portraits in family albums. 

Later on it was found that just as silver bromide could be 
“ emulsified ” in gelatine and applied to paper, so could silver 
chloride, and paper prepared with this and certain other silver 
salts was long supplied by Obernetter. The Ilford Company, 
in 1891, started its manufacture on a large scale under the 
name of P.O.P. (printing-out paper), and the impetus thus 
given to it soon sufficed to make albumenized paper almost 
a thing of the past. 

One other development remains to be noted. George East¬ 
man, an American plate-maker, early realized the commercial 
possibilities of a hand-camera provided with a roll of flexible 
sensitive material instead of glass, and sold the first Kodak, 
which used bromide paper, somewhere about 1886. Soon 
afterwards celluloid was substituted, and this was followed by 
“ the daylight loading cartridge.” In this advantage was taken 
of a device introduced nearly half a century before for the 
negative paper used by amateurs in those days. With the 
film or paper a strip of black paper was rolled, both longer 
and wider than the band of sensitive material. By this means 
it was possible to load and unload a camera with a roll of 
film in daylight Beside the hand-camera, the most striking 
modern developments are the kinematograph and the various 
“screen-plate” methods of colour photography, of which the 
Lumiere “Autochrome” was the pioneer. These are dealt 
with later on. 


26 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


The limits imposed by a work of this character prevent re¬ 
ference being made to many ingenious appliances and original 
methods worked out from time to time by inventors ; and 
this sketch of the growth of photography has necessarily been 
limited to a demonstration of the way in which the methods 
most popular to-day have been evolved. Side by side with 
the evolution of processes there had gone on a perfecting of 
apparatus, in its way as remarkable, but to follow which would 
take too long. Cameras have altered less than might be 
supposed ; the simplicity of their functions has not entailed any 
elaborate development of design. This is far from being the 
case with lenses, and it is no exaggeration, but almost an 
underestimate, to say that the anastigmat at the beginning of 
the twentieth century, though in a legitimate line of descent, 
is as far removed from the lenses available to Daguerre and 
Talbot in 1839 as the modern dry plate is from the processes 
of those pioneers. But an acquaintance with the history of 
the lens, though interesting, is not of much help towards its 
successful use, and we must forego even opening so large a 
subject, especially as to follow it up demands a familiarity 
with physical science not required by those who only utilize 
the tools which that knowledge places at their disposal. Let 
it suffice to say that the names of Petzval, Andrew and 
Thomas Ross, J. H. Dallmeyer, Steinheil, Abbe and 
Schott, Rudolph, Schroeder, Von Hough, Voigtlander, T. R. 
Dallmeyer, Aldis and Dennis Taylor form as brilliant a list 
as those of their fellow-workers whose labours have been set 
forth in this sketch. 

So has photography grown, sometimes slowly, sometimes 
by leaps and bounds, but every step that has been taken has 
started from some earlier work, and in tracing the progress 
backwards, we are led further and further until the trail is lost 
in the darkness of antiquity. It is no one man’s discovery, nor 
yet that of ten nor of a hundred men, but the product of many 
brains and many years. The greatest steps of all were taken, 
undoubtedly, by Wedgwood and Daguerre, but Wedgwood’s 
did not lead him to a practical process, and if Daguerre’s took 
him far, it took him at right angles to the main road that has 
come down to our own time. To show to what that road has 
led, is the purpose of what follows. 


CHAPTER II 


THE CAMERA 


The camera and lens separately selected—The camera in outline—Rigidity the first 
essential—Testing for light-tightness—Ghosts—Stray light in the camera—The 
rising, falling, and cross front—The different forms of rising front compared— 
The camera extension—Focussing methods—The swing back—The reversing 
back—The ground glass—Dark slides—Carriers—Metal dark slides—The Mac¬ 
kenzie-Wishart slide—Magazines and changing boxes—Film-carriers—The Premo 
Film Pack—Roll holders—Stands—Studio stands—Tripods—Sizes of plates— 
Choosing a camera—The degree of extension needed—Large direct work v. 
small work enlarged—Patterns of cameras—Dust in the camera—Care of the 
camera. 

HE chief instrument of the photographer consists of two 



-L parts, the camera and the lens. These two parts are so 
distinct, that in many cases the makers of lenses do not make 
cameras, and vice versd ; and in all except the cheaper patterns 
of hand-camera and stand-camera “ complete sets,” the camera 
and lens are selected separately, and the lens attached to the 
camera is chosen by the purchaser. 

The camera performs three functions—it holds the lens, it 
holds the sensitive plate in the proper position with regard to 
the lens, and it excludes all light from the plate except that 
which has come through the lens. The part of the camera 
holding the lens is always referred to as the front, but the term 
“back” is loosely used, either for the entire opposite end of the 
camera to the front, or for a detachable receptacle in which the 
plates, usually two, are carried. It wants no very elaborate 
mechanism to perform these functions ; and the photographic 
camera, for the results it yields, is one of the most simple pieces 
of apparatus that can be imagined. The idea which so many 
people entertain, that a good photograph is necessarily the 
outcome of a “good” camera, or that it is in any way possible 
to judge of the excellence of the camera by looking at pictures 


27 


28 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


taken with it, is altogether mistaken. Some of the qualities of 
the lens may possibly be revealed in the work done with it, but 
then only to an expert, as we shall see later on ; but of the 
camera, none. The great merits of a good camera are the 
convenience with which it can be used, and the way in which 
it can be adjusted to meet the special requirements of each 
particular case. 

The first essential is that it shall hold both lens and plate 
firmly in the desired position. When the camera is extended 
as it would be for taking a photograph, and the top of the front 
is held in one hand and the top of the back in the other, no 
looseness should be felt between them. There should be no 
play at all, when the stays provided have been put into position 
or have been screwed up. 

Then, of course, it should be light-tight. The effects of 
light leaking into a camera are twofold. The common result 
is a general fogginess or greyness of the negative, except where 
the plate has been protected by the edges of the dark slide. 
This is the case when the light does not shine straight on to 
the plate from one small opening, but is scattered about the 
interior of the camera by reflection. A less frequent result, 
but still one which is responsible for some of the most absurd 
fancies, is that of a “ ghost.” A typical case of this sort was 
submitted to the Royal Photographic Society many years ago. 
A photograph of a snow-covered scene in the Himalayas bore 
on it the ghostly images of two coolies, through whose bodies 
the scenery was clearly visible. It was suggested at the 
time that in the locality of the Mahatmas some supernatural 
forces might not improbably be at work ; but the real cause of 
the figures was plain enough. The camera having been set up, 
the shutter of the slide was drawn a short time before the 
exposure was made. A pin-hole in the bellows or in the 
camera front threw a pin-hole picture of the two men on the 
plate, and silhouetted as they were against the white snow, it 
would not require a very long exposure for a distinct image to 
be recorded. They may have been at the side of the camera, 
or in front. If the latter, they were got out of the way before 
the real exposure was made, which by making some of the 
landscape visible through the image of their bodies would give 
rise to the ghostly effect. These ghosts are so often met with 


THE CAMERA 


29 


that on an average some dozen cases are brought to the notice 
of the author in twelve months, due undoubtedly to minute 
holes in some part of the camera. 

There is also stray light at times which has got in by the 
orthodox entrance, the lens. This has been scattered by 
reflection from the sides of the camera, and even from the 
plate itself. More trouble has arisen in recent years than 
formerly on this score, because modern lenses, as a rule, 
include a much wider angle of light. The result is that not 
only is the plate lit, but much light shines on the bellows of 
the camera, and from them is reflected on to the plate. The 
better the lens, the more likely is the trouble; with reflector 
cameras, where the very finest of lenses are generally used, it 
may be very rife. What is worse, it cannot be prevented. It 
can only be minimized. To do this, the interior of the camera 
is painted over with a dull black paint, so that as much of the 
light is absorbed and as little is reflected as possible. If dust 
is allowed to accumulate on the inside of the camera, much of 
the good done by the blackening is lost, as the dust is light 
coloured and reflective. 

Only the very simplest forms of camera have the relative 
positions of the lens and plate fixed once for all; in most 
patterns they are capable of adjustment in several ways. The 
first is by means of the rising, falling, and cross front. The 
most useful adjustment of all is the rising front, by which, still 
keeping the front of the camera parallel with the plate, the lens 
can be raised so that its centre is no longer opposite the centre, 
but may be as high as or even higher than the top edge of the 
plate. For reasons which will be discussed later on, the back 
of the camera must usually be kept strictly upright. When 
photographing a high building from a standpoint that is com¬ 
paratively near, with the lens in the centre of the plate, we may 
find nearly half the picture is nothing but foreground, while 
most of the building is not on the plate at ah. By raising the 
lens, as is done with the rising front, still keeping the camera 
level and the back upright, we shall find that more of the 
building and less of the foreground are on the plate, until a 
point may be reached at which the entire building is in the 
picture. For outdoor photography, where nearly every subject 
is bounded by the ground only a few feet below the camera, 


30 THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 

while extending indefinitely in the other direction, the rising 
front is so constantly of service, that it would be better to have 
the lens permanently fixed above the centre of the plate, so 
that we always used a certain amount of rise, than to have it 
in the centre, so that we could never have any at all. The 
falling front is for employment under precisely opposite circum¬ 
stances, but is very seldom wanted. Many cameras are fitted 
with cross fronts, by which the lens can be shifted from side to 
side. In the cameras which only take the plate one w r ay, and 
have to be turned bodily on their side to take it the other, this 
cross-front movement is important, because when the camera is 
turned it becomes a rising and falling front. It is serviceable 
also when a stereoscopic pair of pictures is required, on a halt 
plate for example. A partition is fixed in the centre of the 
camera, and the lens slid sideways until it is opposite one half 
of the plate to give the first picture, and then slid across to the 
other side for the other. Apart from this the cross front is not 
of much use. It is convenient at times, when, after much elabo¬ 
rate arrangement for a difficult subject, everything is right 
except the position of the picture on the plate, which is just a 
trifle too much to one side or the other. The cross front can 
correct this without interfering with the other arrangements. 
But this is only a makeshift, and should not be used except to 
a very trifling extent, or it may introduce other troubles, from 
alteration in the perspective. 

The movement next in importance is that which allows us 
to alter the distance between the lens and the plate, for focus¬ 
sing purposes, or to accommodate different lenses. The base 
of the camera being fixed, this can be done by moving on it 
either the front carrying the lens, the back carrying the focus¬ 
sing screen and plate, or both. Studio cameras intended to 
use heavy lenses generally focus by sliding the back only. 
This is also the most convenient pattern for copying. Portrait 
lenses are generally mounted in a tube with a rack and pinion, 
so that after focussing approximately by sliding the back of 
the camera, fine focussing is done by racking the lens in or out. 

In some hand-cameras focussing is effected in a somewhat 
similar manner. The lens mount has a very coarse screw- 
thread on it, and runs in a jacket with a similar thread. The 
lens is then drawn in or out by merely turning it in its jacket. 



TIVOLI 

IiY JOHN H. GEAR 







THE CAMERA 


31 


For general purposes, and especially in most forms of landscape 
and hand-camera, it is the front that moves, and in the most 
adaptable of all both back and front can be moved. Whichever 
it is that slides, it ought to do so smoothly and evenly with no 
tendency to wobble sideways, and with as little play as can be 
expected from the kind of workmanship paid for. 

We have already referred to the importance of keeping 
the back of the camera vertical. In order to do so when the 
camera itself is tipped up, as in the attempt to photograph a 
high building, many cameras are provided with a “ swing-back ; ” 
that is to say, the back to which the bellows are attached is 



Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 


not fastened directly to the baseboard, but swings on trunnions 
within a frame (Fig. 4), or else is pivotted on its bottom edge 
and fastened where desired by means of a strut (Fig. 5). The 
former method is easier to use, but there are constructional 
advantages—the camera is simpler—when the latter is em¬ 
ployed, and the difference is not enough to trouble about A 
camera that has to be turned bodily over to take a picture the 
other way of the plate should have a back which swings hori¬ 
zontally as well as vertically, as the one becomes the other 
when the camera is turned. If the camera has a “ reversing 
back ” there is no need to turn it, and therefore no need for 
the horizontal swing. It is sometimes said to be useful in 



























32 THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 

focussing, allowing one edge of the plate to be nearer to the 
lens than the other, when photographing a long row of objects 
that reach from the camera; and the purists point out that this 
introduces distortion or makes the perspective false, and con¬ 
demn the practice accordingly. There seems to be no real 
reason why it should not be employed, when absolute literal 
truth is not the immediate object of the photograph—and this 
must be the case in ninety-nine per cent of the exposures 
made at the very least. Our objection is rather that it is 

so seldom required as to be a needless complication. 

Most stand-cameras are now made square at the back, and 
are fitted with a reversing back. In architectural work, par* 
ticularly, it is convenient to be able to put the reversing back 
into the camera in any one of the four possible positions, 
because it often happens that every inch of room behind the 
camera is valuable. We have known a lot of time wasted in 
setting up a camera and getting everything ready to take the 
picture, only to find that a wall or pillar or some similar 
obstacle absolutely prevented the shutter of the dark slide from 
being drawn. If the back could have been turned half round, 
so that the slide was drawn out from the other side, this trouble 
would have been prevented. 

The focussing screen is generally a piece of ground glass, 
though in some small cameras ground celluloid is used for 
lightness and to prevent risk of breakage. In all other respects 
glass is much to be preferred, and in everything above quarter- 
plate size is essential. It should be perfectly flat and very 
finely ground. Some cameras are fitted with such coarse 
screens that anything like fine focussing is impossible. Such a 
screen is best taken out and replaced by something better. 
Special finely ground flat glass is now sold for this particular 
purpose. 

The American term "plate holder” is distinctly preferable 
to "dark slide,” the name generally given in this country to 
the appliance by which the plate is carried about protected 
absolutely from light except at the moment of exposure. The 
early cameras made to take wet plates were usually fitted with 
a single dark slide to hold one plate only. Instead of having 
a reversing back, they had a square dark slide in which the 
plate could be put either vertically or horizontally. A few 


THE CAMERA 


33 


such instruments may still be in use in old-fashioned studios, 
and a very similar, but more elaborate, dark slide is employed 
in process cameras ; but for all ordinary purposes the old single 
wet-plate slide has been supplanted by the “ double dark slide 

or “ double back.” 

Double dark slides are generally made of one of two different 
patterns, known respectively as “ book form ” and “ solid. * The 
former are the more elaborate and costly; the latter are cheaper 
to make, and take up less room when opened—a consideration 
where the dark room is small. 

The regulation number of double dark slides per camera is 
three, and in comparing the prices of different instruments, it is 
well to make sure that each price includes the same number of 
slides. With small cameras, it is often very convenient to have 
more than three ; as many as half a dozen, in fact, are useful. 
But dark slides, if the most convenient in use, are an extremely 
bulky way of carrying plates, and when many exposures are 
required some other means should be employed. Cases lined 
with flannel and made to hold one dark slide each can be 
purchased, and save scratching and other injury to a nicely 
finished slide, as well as acting as an additional safeguard 
against light-fog; although the dark slide that needs this 
must be a very bad one, and a snare. Carriers or inner 
frames are supplied, which fit in the slides in the places 
occupied by the plates, and so enable a small plate to be 
used in place of a large one. These carriers can be got in 
nests fitting one inside the other, and taking a whole series 
of sizes. 

Of late years there has been something like a revival of 
the single slide, several very compact forms having made their 
appearance, some of which, made of metal, are not much larger 
than the plates they enclose. The Mackenzie-Wishart plate 
holder is a single wooden slide, the plate being carried in a 
particular form of envelope, of celluloid and light-proof cloth. 
One of these being shut up in the slide, the act of drawing the 
shutter opens the envelope and exposes the plate to the camera. 
Replacing the shutter closes the envelope again, and it can 
then be taken out of the dark slide in daylight, and a fresh 
plate in another envelope inserted. This arrangement is 
extremely compact, and, if used with due care, is effective. 

D 


34 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


There is no limit to the number of envelopes that can be used, 
one single slide serving for all of them. 

Ingenuity h-as been lavished on plate-holding devices, but 
to this day the dark slide, altered very little in design since the 
introduction of the dry plate, holds its own undisputed in 
larger sizes, and equalled, but not excelled, even for small plates. 
The magazine, usually holding a dozen plates, although 
excellent for 3J by 2J, quarter-plates, and possibly postcard 
sizes, is not very suitable for larger plates, and even for small 
has drawbacks of its own. The failure of a dark slide from 
any cause only means that one plate or at the most two can¬ 
not be used; but if the more elaborate changing mechanism 
of a magazine jams, the photographer relying on it finds his 
work completely stopped. For this reason, and because of its 
greater complication, nothing but the best of magazines is to 
be recommended. A cheap form of dark slide, if not elaborately 
finished, may nevertheless be perfectly efficient; but a cheap 
magazine is to be shunned. The only form the author can 
recommend is the “ N. & G.,” in which the plates are carried 
in sheaths, twelve plates or twenty-four films in each box. The 
top of the box is a soft leather bag, into which the plate 
is raised by drawing up a “ lifter.” The plate in its sheath is 
then caught hold of through the bag, and is pushed down a 
slot into the front of the box, ready to receive the image as 
soon as the shutter is drawn. When it has been exposed, 
the next plate is raised, picked up, and pushed down, sliding 
in front of the first and pushing it back in so doing. This 
changing box is very efficient in small sizes, but has certain 
inconveniences. The exposed plates being in front of the 
others, and the box being loaded and emptied from the back, 
it is necessary to take out all the plates to get at the exposed 
plates for development. (The “ Adams ” magazine avoids this.) 
Moreover, the box must be handled carefully, and the sheaths 
must on no account be allowed to get bent, or they may jam and 
render the box useless until attended to in a dark room. In 
handling the plates, it must be done so that there is no risk of 
a sharp corner of glass piercing the leather bag, and the plate 
should be held sloping with its top away from the front of 
the box to avoid rubbing anything against the face of the 
plate. There are a number of devices for carrying plates 


THE CAMERA 85 

in the camera itself, but these all apply to hand-cameras 
only. 

Those who use films instead of plates find the dark slide or 
changing-box problem much easier. In the first place, all 
apparatus without exception which will take glass plates will 
take cut films. In some cases no additional apparatus at all is 
required ; in others some form of carrier or sheath must be 
used, applied to which the cut film becomes the same size 
as a plate and as stiff, and is treated throughout in the 
same way. 

The simplest form of carrier is a thin metal frame in which 
the film slips, a black card of the requisite thickness sliding in 
also and holding it in position. In another form the card is 
dispensed with, the sheath being simply a thin sheet of metal, 
with corrugations to stiffen it and give it the requisite thick¬ 
ness, and with its edges turned over to form grooves to hold 
the film. In large sizes, cut films mean a very great decrease 
in weight, and they can be used in dark slides without any 
carrier at all. The film is placed in the grooves just like a 
plate, and a piece of stout card the same size is placed on it, 
and the dark slide closed. The spring in the centre of the 
slide in such a case must be removed, or it will make the 
middle of the film bulge out. Another effective plan, which 
does away with the need of removing the spring, is to insert 
behind the film a light wooden frame, like a plate-carrier but 
without any catches. If the spring does not project beyond 
the thickness of the frame, it then does no harm, the author 
has used 12 X 10 cut films in this way, without any sheath, 
quite successfully.^ If negative paper or bromide paper of 
large size is to be used, it has not the stiffness of a cut film, 
and may be attached by gummed paper strips to the wooden 
frame, to avoid any risk of it bulging into the camera. 

But all the. c e take no advantage of the great merit of the 
film—its flexibility. It is only when we come to the roll holder 
and the “film pack” that the celluloid film shows how readily it 
adapts itself to the requirements of the photographer, and 
especially to arrangements for daylight loading, dispensing 
entirely with all need of a dark room for filling or emptying 
slides or cameras, or indeed for developing. The best device 
for using cut films is that known as the film pack, the 


3G 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


invention of G. E. Thornton and now produced by several 
makers. The film pack consists of two parts—the holder, 
which may be separate for insertion like a dark slide 
into the camera, or may be built into the camera itself, as 
is the case in some forms of hand-camera ; and the film pack, 
which is sold ready loaded with a dozen films. Each film is 
attached to one end of a long strip of black paper, which is led 
round a roller at one end of the pack of films, up behind them, 
and ends in a numbered tab which hangs loose outside the 
pack. The film pack is put into its holder in daylight, exactly 
as bought, a label is broken, the holder is closed up, and on 
pulling the first tab, the first film is exposed in the holder 
ready to receive the picture. On pulling the next tab, the 
first film is drawn round the roller to the back, and the second 
is ready for exposure, and so on through the whole dozen. 
When the last tab is pulled, the holder may be opened and the 
pack taken out in daylight, and a new pack substituted, and 
so on. 

A film pack may be opened, and one or more films taken 
out for development, and the pack closed up again for exposure 
of the rest; but, though possible, it is much better to avoid this 
all one can. The pack, when all are exposed, is easily opened, 
the films taken out for development, and the pack itself thrown 
away. As each film is carried round the roller to the back, 
there is a chance that its sensitive surface may get rubbed or 
scratched, the changing should therefore be done gently. Some 
workers seem particularly unfortunate in getting these scratches, 
others never or hardly ever meet with them ; so that it looks as 
if they were due largely, if not entirely, to the personal factor. 
The author has exposed hundreds of films in the film pack, 
without more scratches than occur in the most perfect form of 
plate magazine, certainly without anything to counterbalance 
the very great advantage of this ingenious device. Its most 
serious drawback is a defect of its qualities. The very ease 
and simplicity of the changing, and the fact that the film packs 
are light, portable, and can be replaced in full daylight, are a 
great temptation to make more exposures than would be the 
case were the changing less facile. 

For those who use roll film in lengths there is the roll 
holder. In spite of the fact that more roll film is used to-day 


TIIE CAMERA 


87 


than ever, the roll holder, qua roll holder, is almost obsolete. 
The reason for this is that roll film is almost exclusively used 
in hand-cameras, or at least in cameras specially constructed 
to take the film. In other words, the roll holder is very seldom 
a separate fitting, but is usually part and parcel of the camera 
itself, and not separable from it. Separate roll holders can be 
bought, however, which can be used in place of dark slides, it 
being necessary to state, when ordering spools of film for them, 
that they are required for a roll holder. 

Beyond postcard size (5J x 3J) the conveniences of roll film 
are to a great extent lost, as it is not likely with large sizes 
that so many exposures will be required between each 
changing. In the larger sizes there is the difficulty of 
keeping the thin flexible film flat. Even with postcard 
films this is an important matter when modern high-class 
lenses are used, with which a very slight degree of uneven¬ 
ness in the plate or film means a loss of some of the 
advantages of the lens. The “ Eastman Portrait Film ” 
is a flat cut-film of stouter substance, which is not open 
to this objection. 

Camera stands may be divided into two classes, tripod and 
studio. The amateur as a general rule is content with a tripod 
stand, but for portraiture, for photographing such subjects as 
flowers, fruit, natural history specimens, and for copying—in 
short, for general work indoors, a studio stand, even if quite 
simple and with few adjustments, will be found a very real 
convenience. It is a great nuisance to find, when all has been 
arranged, that the camera ought to be just an inch or two 
nearer to the subject, or vice versd , and that in consequence of 
a tripod being used, all the adjusting and levelling has to be 
done over again. For those who do not wish to have two 
stands, but yet appreciate the convenience of the stand on 
casters, there is an ingenious appliance called the “ Folding 
tripod adapter,” a three-armed wooden frame running on 
casters, with a place at the extremity of each arm to receive 
the tripod foot. This gives some of the advantages of the 
studio stand. 

The tripod is the popular form of stand, and combines a 
maximum of rigidity with a minimum of weight. The weak 
point in most tripods is the attachment of the legs to the 


38 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


tripod head, and when a stand is shaky, it will nearly always 
be found that the source of the trouble is at the top. The 
firmest tripod the author has ever used is the “Ashford,” but 
this is a comparatively heavy pattern and in its most rigid 
form is only twofold, though a threefold pattern is made. 
Anything less than threefold is inconveniently long at times, 
and if the outfit is to be carried on a cycle a fourfold tripod is 
a convenience. However many the joints in the legs, one of 
them should be a sliding one, clamping with a screw. Other 
things being equal, the bigger the top the firmer the stand. 
Some tripods with very small tops, even if firm to start with, 
soon get so shaky that they are worse than useless. Tripod 
stands are sometimes made of metal, steel or aluminium usually. 
Each leg is tubular and telescopic. But such stands involve 
the risk that a single blow may make the whole stand useless > 
so that, except in very special circumstances, legs made of 
good ash are to be preferred. 

If the camera is to be used exclusively for work on the 
tripod, instead of having a tripod stand with a separate head, a 
“ turn table ” may be let into the baseboard of the camera, to 
which the tripod legs are directly attached. There is a gain 
both in firmness and in portability by this means. All things 
considered, when the photographer has only one camera it is 
better to have the head separate altogether. 

Since the war, an agreement has been reached amongst 
camera makers to specialise on four sizes only for small plate 
cameras, so as to reduce the number of odd sizes which 
threatened to become excessive. This will ultimately react 
beneficially on the plate trade, and by limiting the number of 
sizes which a dealer need stock, will increase the likelihood of 
his supplies being fresh. The four sizes agreed upon are :— 

No. o.—4^ x 6^ c.m.—in place of a multitude of small sizes. 

No. i.—x 9 c.m.—x 2\ in. and 6x9. 

No. 4.—8 x 12 c.m.—quarter plate and 9x12. 

No. 8.—10 x 15 c.m.—5^ x 3^, 5 ^ X 3J and 9 X 14 c.m. 

The numbers with which the four sizes are prefaced are part of 
a series which at the same time it has been agreed to adopt, to 
designate the various standard sizes, so as to do away with the 
necessity of giving the actual dimensions. The others in the 



THE WHITE SAIT 


RY ALEXANDER KEIGHI.EY 











THE CAMERA 


39 


series are 3J X 2 \ in. (No. 2), 4^ x 3J in. (No. 3), 9x12 c.m. 
(No. 5), 5 x 4 in. (No. 6), 5J x 3J in. (No. 7), and 6J x 4! in. 
(No. 9). Thus a camera described as a “ Klito No. 3 ” will be 
known to take quarter-plates, and a “ Cameo No. 1 ” plates 
6J x 9 c.m., and so on. 

This change is a direct outcome of the modern tendency to 
use smaller and smaller sizes, relying on enlarging to get bigger 
pictures when required. At one time, quarter-plate was the 
smallest size likely to be met with. There are still more 
quarter-plate cameras in use than any other size ; but 3J x 2J 
is growing rapidly into favour ; though to judge from what has 
just been written on the standardisation of sizes, both quarter- 
plate (No. 3) and 3J x 2 \ in. (No. 2) are likely to be replaced 
by 6J x 9 c.m. (No. 1) and 8x12 c.m. (No. 4) respectively. 

In choosing a size it should not be forgotten that the 
definition possible with small plates is better than is practicable 
with large ones. This opens up the question, Is it better to 
take a large photograph direct, or to take a small one and 
enlarge it ? When the camera is to be carried about, the small 
negative and enlarging offer many advantages, while for studio 
and similar work direct photography on large plates is preferable. 
The author has used a quarter-plate camera for years for nearly 
every purpose, making direct enlargements on bromide paper or 
enlarged negatives when bigger pictures are wanted. There 
should be little in an enlargement 15 X 12 inches, if it is on 
rough bromide paper, to show whether it is made by contact 
from a negative that size or enlarged from a quarter plate. 
Framed and hanging up, no one should detect any lack of 
detail from the fact that it was enlarged. 

If a stand camera is to be used, a half-plate is as large as 
can be carried about far without discomfort. Half-plate has 
this against it—that prints that size are not very imposing, 
while enlarging means that daylight must be used, or else a 
very cumbersome condenser, 8 inches in diameter at least, 
must be employed. For these reasons, if the camera is not 
to be carried about very much, whole plate is a better size. 
Whole-plate prints are quite capable of holding their own at 
an exhibition, and the apparatus is still not unwieldy. <0 X 8 
is not very popular, being considerably heavier and more costly 


40 


nIE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


than whole plate, without any very apparent gain in the im¬ 
portance of the prints, the next notable size to whole plate 
being 12 X io. This gives a fine large print, but is not very 
manageable, and is certainly not portable. 

In selecting a stand camera, if for use indoors, and weight 
is not very important, the square bellows pattern, with folding 
tailboard, the front fixed rigidly at right angles to the base¬ 
board, the back drawing out and clamping by means of two 
screws on the top of it, is old fashioned, but unsurpassed for 
rigidity, strength, and general convenience. Except to carry 
about, this form can hardly be improved upon. A half-plate 
camera of this type should have an extension of at least 
16 inches from focussing screen to front; a whole plate 
should extend 22 inches. It is heavy, however, and does 
not extend so far as one of the lighter forms of “ landscape ” 
camera. 

The most popular form of stand camera, one that has come 
to be more or less a standard pattern, is the taper bellows 

form, extending back and front 
(Fig. 6). If properly made, it is 
convenient to use, light to carry, 
and remarkably rigid. We have 
already seen some of the tests 
to which it should be put; but 
if it is got from a reliable dealer, 
there ought to be no trouble 
either from lack of register, 
want of rigidity, or light leakage. 
It should either have a swing back or else a great rise of the 
front, as in the Sanderson. If it has not this rise, which should 
be sufficient to bring the middle of the lens opposite the top 
of the plate when this is vertical, and even if it has this, unless 
a very high-class lens is to be used, a swing back is useful. A 
half-plate camera of this type should extend 18 inches from 
focussing screen to front, or if of “ triple extension ” it should 
extend to 22 inches. 

Three double dark slides should form part of the outfit, 
and a leather case, to hold camera, slides, tripod head, focussing 
cloth, and lens, is certainly desirable. Waterproof canvas cases 
are supplied for this purpose, but they do not protect the camera 



Fig. 6. 













THE CAMERA 


41 


so efficiently, nor are they so cheap in the long run, for a good 
leather case will outlast three or four of them. The camera 
when not in use should be put away in its case, and kept in 
a dry place. If it gets damp it may work stiffly, or even refuse 
to work at all. Dust inside it is more than untidy ; it is harm¬ 
ful. Camera and dark slides should therefore be kept clean 
inside and out. Inside, dust causes minute spots which appear 
black on the prints ; outside, it gets carried into the camera 
on the slide, wiped off on to the inside when the shutter is 
drawn, and so causes trouble. Sliding parts, where wood 
moves on wood or on metal, must not be greased, but may 
be lubricated, if they work hard, with a little fine black lead 
applied with the finger. The whole of the inside of camera 
and dark slides should be blackened and kept black. Matt 
black varnish is sold for the purpose, and a drop may be 
applied to any bright parts. The spring in the dark slides, 
where it touches the centre of the plate, wears bright in time, 
and we have seen very conspicuous black marks on negatives 
caused by nothing more than the reflection from it. A morsel 
of black court plaster will stop up a pinhole in the bellows. 
Properly taken care of, the camera should last out the photo¬ 
grapher himself, and should not perceptibly deteriorate in 
efficiency, if its looks get a little the worse with wear. But 
this chapter is best finished, as begun, with a reminder that 
the quality of the work in no sense depends on the quality of 
the camera. The advantage a good instrument offers over a 
bad one is very great, immeasurable almost, but it lies entirely 
in convenience and comfort in use, and in adaptability to 
varying conditions of work ; and so long as it can be made 
to keep the light out, as fine photographs can be made with 
a packing case as with the most expensive instrument ever 
constructed. 


CHAPTER III 


THE LENS IN PRINCIPLE 

The myth of the wonderful lens—Fancy prices for lenses—The description of lenses— 
Focus and its measurement—• Principal focus—Back focus—The stop—Systems 
cf marking stops—Stops and exposure—Effective aperture—Selecting a lens— 
Defects—Striae—Centring—Covering and defining power—Curvature of the 
field—Astigmatism—Curvilinear distortion—Spherical aberration—Flare spot— 
Achromatism—The fallacy of examples of work. 

I T marks one stage further in photographic knowledge when 
a person says of a photograph, “ That must have been 
taken with a wonderfully fine lens,” instead of attributing 
the excellence of the product to the camera. Yet as in the 
case of the camera, so with regard to the lens, it is not possible, 
without knowing something of the conditions under which the 
photographer has to work, to say whether the lens was a 
magnificent instrument, or one of the most rubbishy and 
worthless character. This is not to suggest that there is no 
practical difference between them, or that a fine lens is not 
worth all the money charged for it, but only to say that 
the good qualities of a lens are not superficial ones, and that 
it takes a knowledge of photography to appreciate the excellence 
of the lens, and a good deal more than a knowledge of photo¬ 
graphy to make a critical examination of it, and to ascertain 
how close it comes to the ideal instrument. 

There is another common misapprehension that it is well to 
remove before going any further, and that is one which has 
been called “the myth of the wonderful lens.” In the dark 
ages of photography—thirty years ago at the least—more was 
heard about the superlative qualities of some particular in¬ 
strument or other than is the case to-day, and there is no 
doubt that in some cases there was just this foundation for the 
myth, that the lenses of the same type and by the same maker 

42 


THE LENS IN PRINCIPLE 


43 


often differed amongst themselves very considerably. With 
one or two exceptions, the lenses were made and tested by rule- 
of-thumb methods, which perhaps were all that were necessary 
at the time, but which made possible considerable difference in 
the qualities of different instruments allowed to go out into the 
market. The great improvements in lens design which have 
taken place in the last few years have made such methods of 
manufacture obsolete, or nearly so, and the makers have been 
obliged to employ refinements in manufacturing and testing 
which have done away with most of the old element of chance. 
One thing now is quite certain, and that is that in buying a 
modern lens by a reputable maker, one particular instrument of 
the type is practically as good as another, and all are far 
superior to the best productions of twenty or thirty years ago. 
We can be sure that if a photographer gets some supremely 
fine results in the way of definition, he does so, not by the 
occult properties possessed by the particular lens he is using 
and not shared by others of its make and class, but by the 
care and skill with which he employs it, and the favourable 
conditions under which he is working. 

Several years ago the apparatus of a well-known amateur 
photographer who had won many medals for his work, was put 
up to auction, and, to the amusement of those who knew better, 
the lenses he possessed—and he had a good few of them—fetched 
considerably higher prices than new lenses of exactly the same 
sort and by the same maker could be bought for. It has not 
transpired that the work they have since done has been so 
successful, and the whole thing was a good example of the 
mistaken notions which prevail as to the true causes of photo¬ 
graphic success. 

A lens is generally described as being of such and such 
“ focus,” working at such and such an aperture, and covering 
such and such a plate. The last term explains itself; the focu3 
and aperture may need a word or two. 

The “ focus ” of a lens, as that term is generally understood, 
is the distance from the plate or ground glass to the lens, when 
it is focussed on an object at such a distance that everything 
beyond it is also in focus. The measurement may be made to 
the diaphragm of a double lens or to the glass of a single lens, 
and will then in most cases be approximately correct Or we 


44 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


may focus sharpV some object so that its image on the screen 
is exactly the same size as the original; the lens will then be 
found to be equidistant from the plate and from the object, and 
the total distance of the image from the object is then four times 
its focus. Further refinements are not needed in practical work. 

The stops are never described by their actual dimensions, 
but by the relationship between the focus of the lens and the 
diameter of the stop. This is generally expressed as a fraction, 
F (the numerator) standing for the focus, and the number of 
times the diameter of the stop is contained in it being the 
denominator. Thus a stop i inch diameter, used with a lens 
of 8 inches focus, would be described as F/8 ; this expression is 
generally referred to as the “ F number.” 

With a great many lenses the largest stop which is fitted 
has a diameter equal to one-eighth of the focus of the lens ; it 
is known, therefore, as F/8. The next size smaller to require 
twice the exposure is F/ii’3, the next F/16, the next F/22*6, 
the next F/32, the next F/45, the next F/64. Beyond this very 
few lenses go ; in fact, few go as far as F/64 now, although 
in the old rapid rectilinears this was always the smallest stop, 
and gave its name to a class of photographers who were noted 
for their fondness for the utmost definition, only obtained in 
those days by much stopping down; hence the term “F/64 
men” applied to these enthusiasts. Portrait lenses work at F/4 
or larger, and the series in their case becomes F/4, F/5 '6, F/8, 
and so on as above. The competition to make lenses with as 
large apertures as possible has led to the manufacture of many, 
the largest stops for which are of odd sizes such as F/6‘5, F/6 7, 
F/7, F/77, and so on. With these, as a rule, the custom of 
making each stop require twice the exposure of the preceding 
one does net hold good with the two largest openings ; it is 
found most convenient for the largest opening to be whatever 
is the maximum working aperture, and the next to be F/8, 
after which the exposures double, as usual. 

This arrangement makes it very easy for the photographer 
to go from one lens to another without getting wrong with his 
exposures. He knows, for example, that whatever lenses he 
be using, however big or however small, so long as he uses each 
with its stop marked F/8, the exposure with every lens will be 
the same. A word of caution is necessary here. The exposure 


THE LENS IN PRINCIPLE 


45 


is only the same so long as the lens is being used at or near its 
principal focus. This is the case in most landscape and hand- 
camera work ; it is not so true when we come to interiors and 
portraits ; while in copying, if unintelligently applied, it would 
lead us altogether astray. For example, when copying the 
same size, the plate is distant from the lens twice the focal 
length of the latter ; the stop, therefore, which the optician has 
marked F/8 is not for the time being one-eighth the focus, but 
one-sixteenth, and the exposure required is therefore four times 
as long. There are tables showing how, in copying, the 
extension of the camera affects the nominal value of the stop, 
and in doing work of this kind these tables should be consulted. 
For portrait work, interiors, and so on, the difference, though at 
times perceptible, is not great enough to introduce any serious 
difficulty, or to lead the photographer astray ; though if his 
exposure errs in the direction of insufficiency, this will help to 
make matters worse. 

There are other ways of marking stops besides that of 
giving their “ F values." The U.S., or “Uniform System,” was 
put forward by the Royal Photographic Society many years 
ago, but was not received with any enthusiasm. At length, 
after many years, some of the most popular cameras had their 
lenses marked in this way—many Kodaks, for instance, were 
graduated on the U.S. The Society then, rattier perversely, 
withdrew its recommendation ; but just as its advocacy had no 
perceptible effect on the adoption of the method, its withdrawal 
does not appear to have influenced its popularity. 

The U.S. system starts with F/4, which at the time of its 
introduction was the speed of most portrait lenses. F/4 is 
known then as 1 ; F/5’6, requiring twice the exposure of F/4, 
is called 2 ; and F/8, requiring twice that, is U.S. 4. The 
others are as follows: F/ii*3 = U.S. 8, F/16 = U.S. 16, 
F/22-6 = U.S. 32, F/32 = U.S. 64, F/45 = U.S. 128, and 
F/64 = U.S. 256. The merit of these numbers is that they 
express directly the relative exposures which the different 
stops require. Thus we know that with F/64 (U.S. 256) we 
must give 256 times as long as with F/4 (U.S. 1). In actual 
practice, however, there is little or no advantage, as the simple 
relationship expressed by saying that each stop requires twice 
ot half the exposure required by its neighbours, respectively, 


46 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


answers all requirements of the photographer. It may be 
useful as an aid to memory if we point out that F/16 is 
U.S. 16, and that the other U.S. numbers in order are each 
double or half the preceding number. 

There are several other systems of marking stops ; the 
simplest, when one iris diaphragm is to be used with two or 
more lenses, is to have the aperture of the diaphragm and the 
focus of the lens marked on them in millimetres ; the F/- 
number is found by dividing one by the other. 

While it takes a skilful optician to test a lens exhaustively, 
the user can make a trial for himself which will at least show 
him some of its capabilities. And first a word of caution about 
appearances. Some parts of the best modern lenses are made 
of optical glass of a particular kind, one of whose peculiarities 
is that it is impossible to secure it quite free from minute 
bubbles. On looking through one of these lenses the bubbles, 
in all probability, will be the first things seen, and it may be 
supposed that they are defects. Of course it would be better 
if they could be got rid of without impairing any of the other 
qualities of the instrument; but as they cannot, and as the 
damage which they do to the defining power of the lens is 
quite inappreciable, the photographer must just put up with 
them. If he means to avoid them he must get an inferior lens 
made of glasses in which they are avoidable. 

The most serious defect which a lens can possess, which a 
casual examination will reveal, is the presence of “ striae ” in 
the glass. These are little lumps or masses of uneven density. 
Perhaps the best explanation is to compare them with the 
striae which are seen when a strong solution of hypo is mixed 
with water. They should always be looked for when buying 
a lens—just as when, negotiating for a horse, it should be noted 
that he has four legs—but they certainly should not be found. 
Striae are seen by looking through the lens, holding it a few 
inches away from the eyes and near some printed matter. 

The next thing to note is that the whole of the interior of 
the metal mount of the lens has been treated with some dead 
black, so that, could the eye be put at any position occupied by 
the glasses of the len9, or at any position inside the camera, no 
particle of bright metal could be seen. 

The most beautifully designed and finished lens ever made 


THE LENS IN PRINCIPLE 


47 


could be completely ruined by being put up badly in its mount. 
The different curves to which its glasses are ground are all 
parts of spheres, and the centre of every one of these spheres 
must lie upon the imaginary line running right through the 
middle of the lens, and called its axis. If this is not the case, 
if the lens, in other words, is not properly centred, it is worse 
than useless. The centring is all the more important to the 
purchaser, because apart from the reputation of the lens maker, 
there is always a possibility that the lens may have had some 
mechanical injury since it left his hands which has affected the 
centring. This is easily examined. If we hold up a lens a 
foot or two from the eye, and look through it at a candle-flame 
io or 15 feet away, by twisting the lens slightly out of the 
straight line joining the eye and the flame, we shall see a 
number of reflected images of the flame on the different glass 
surfaces of which the lens is composed. Watching these care¬ 
fully, we swing the lens round until they all close up and over¬ 
lap to form one image as we look straight through. If they 
come together gradually and regularly, and if all exactly over¬ 
lap at the finish, so that only one image of the flame is to be 
seen, the centring is satisfactory. 

Before putting the lens in the camera there are one or two 
other things which we may note. Its surfaces should be very 
highly polished ; there should, of course, be no sign of greyness 
or of imperfect polishing. If the lens projects beyond the 
metal of the mount, it should be examined for scratches and 
injury on the projecting surface, a very common defect in 
second-hand lenses which have been owned by those who did 
not know how to use them. A lens, of course, should not be 
cracked, but it may come as a surprise to many to know that 
the principal injury produced by a crack applies to its selling 
value, and not to its performance. If the same blow that caused 
the crack did not affect the centring, it is doubtful, unless the 
crack is very bad, whether its effects could be detected at all 
in the work done by the lens. 

The mount of a lens generally prevents it from being used 
to quite the extent it might be otherwise. This is not neces¬ 
sarily a defect, and in at least one famous type, the mount was 
expressly arranged to prevent the lens from being used for 
purposes for which it was not intended, and so perchance 


48 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


appearing inferior. Latterly, however, the tendency has beet 
all the other way, and some lenses are not provided with 
sufficient mount to give them a reasonable protection from 
accidental injury. To ascertain if the mount of the lens gets 
in the way is very simple. Focussing some distant open view, 
the ground glass is removed, and the eye is brought to the 
position of one corner of it. In many cameras the corners of 
the ground glass are cut away, and in these all we have to do 
is to apply one eye to one of these openings and look into the 
lens, which must be at its largest opening. If the opening of 
the stop does not seem its proper shape from this view point 
the mount is cutting off, and smaller and smaller stops must be 
inserted until one is found which is seen in its true shape. This 
is then the largest stop which can be employed without the 
mount affecting the evenness of the illumination of the lens; 
and, other things being equal, the larger this stop is, the better 
is the lens in this respect. 

So far the lens has been examined in the hand ; it must next 
be placed in the camera and tried on the ground glass. In 
doing this, it is most important that the flange of the lens 
should be quite flat upon the camera front, as anything which 
tended to tip the lens to one side or the other, however slightly, 
would deprive the test of all its value. This fixing is not so 
important when the lens is to be used temporarily on a camera, 
under conditions which are not likely to be trying. It is 
possible, if the hole in the camera front is too large for the 
temporary lens, that this can be fixed by cutting a hole in a 
piece of black card so that it just fits on the screw of the lens 
mount, pushing this through the card, and holding the lens to 
the card by screwing on the flange. The card is then fastened 
over the hole in the camera front. Such a make-shift, however, 
is quite unsuited for testing a lens, and would make the lens 
seem much worse than it really is. For the same reason, when 
trying a lens in the camera, it is of the very utmost importance 
that both the back and front of the camera shall be precisely 
at right angles to the base-board. Having seen to this, we 
shall be in a position to examine both the “ covering power ” 
and the “defining power” of the lens. 

For testing purposes it is quite useless to employ such a 
subject as a person or a landscape, because its different parts 



THE VILLAGE PREACHER 


l»Y DAN DUNI-OP 








THE LENS IN PRINCIPLE 


40 


are at different distances from the camera, and it is not possible 
to distinguish the want of definition due to this difference of 
distance from that caused by any shortcomings of the lens itself. 
For this reason a flat object must be employed, and nothing is 
better than a newspaper opened out as much as possible and 
pinned flat upon a wall. The larger the type on it, in reason, 
the better. Opposite such a subject, taking great care that the 
lens is opposite the middle of it, and that the camera is quite 
square with the wall, we take our stand. Covering the head 
with the focussing cloth, we proceed to focus the picture as 
sharply as possible, using the full aperture of the lens, and 
removing the camera from the subject, if possible, until we can 
see about half the newspaper on the ground glass. The first 
thing to note is the “ covering power ” of the lens—that is to 
say, whether it will give an image over the whole of the ground 
glass. To ascertain this we look to the corners. They may 
require focussing again, but the image should be visible there 
when the lens is opposite the centre of the focussing screen. If 
it is not visible, then the lens will not “ cover ” that size of 
plate at all, and is useless for it. But it ought to do more than 
this, because we are sure to want to use the rising front at 
some time or other. We raise the front now, little by little, 
looking at the bottom corners and refocussing when necessary, 
to ascertain how much the front can be raised before the corners 
are cut off. This test it is well to repeat on some landscape 
subject at the first opportunity, as, in consequence of the com¬ 
parative nearness of the newspaper to the lens, the photographer 
may be led to suppose that he has a greater power of raising 
the lens than he will find to be the case when he comes to use 
it out-of-doors. 

Unless the lens is one of the modern “ flat-field ” instruments, 
it will be found at once, on trying it in this way, that when the 
centre of the picture is sharp the edges are blurred, and vice 
versd. If it is of either the “single” or the “rectilinear” type, 
this curvature must be expected. It may not give any very 
great trouble, because such lenses are not likely to be used 
much for copying from the flat, as in the test subject; but if the 
lens is supposed to give a flat field, and there is found to be 
any need for refocussing to get the corners sharp after focus¬ 
sing on the centre, it is defective. If all the four corners come 


50 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


sharp together, it may be taken that the wall and the ground 
glass are parallel, and that the test is a good one; if they do 
not, the apparatus must be re-arranged before the test can be 
considered conclusive. Curvature of the field is a serious 
matter when copying with large apertures, but for many other 
purposes is not at all important. It has the effect of requiring 
objects at the edge of the plate to be nearer to the camera than 
objects which fall on the centre of the picture; so that in many 
cases it is possible to arrange the subject accordingly ; we can 
get the outside members of a group to come a little closer, for 
example. In landscape work this is not possible, though even 
then it is not often very troublesome. It can be remedied by 
the use of a small stop. 

The same test subject will allow us to examine the lens for 
“astigmatism.” We select some of the black lines on the 
newspaper which run parallel to each other, such as the 
“rules” that are placed between the columns, and focus these 
with full aperture as sharply as we possibly can. On examining 
lines that run in a direction at right angles to these, if the lens 
suffers from astigmatism, we shall find that they are not sharp. 
If we focus the second lot of lines, the first will become fuzzy. 
All the older forms of lens, portrait, rectilinear, etc., possess 
astigmatism, but the modern types should be capable of going 
through this test without revealing any trace of it to the 
unaided eye. Astigmatism is a serious handicap when a lens 
has to be used for copying work, and is a distinct drawback 
in architectural photography. For most ordinary purposes, 
however, except that the definition of a lens suffering from 
astigmatism is never quite so good as when it is free from it, it 
is possible to reduce it by the use of a smaller stop. The 
lenses where the photographer is most likely to encounter 
astigmatism are the rapid rectilinears, of which so many are 
now in use. These vary enormously in this respect; some do 
not show more than a trace of it at the corners of the field, 
with others it is easily seen almost as soon as we get away from 
the centre of the picture. 

There is another defect which may be looked for while this 
test is in progress. Let the camera be so arranged that one of 
the aforesaid “ column rules ” is represented on the ground 
glass at the extreme edge of the plate. If we focus it sharply 


THE LENS IN PRINCIPLE 


51 


and then apply a straight-edge to the ground glass, the line 
which was straight in the subject may appear curved in the 
image. With a portrait lens this is certain to be the case, and 
may be passed over, as this form of distortion is not important 
in the work to which such lenses are put. It is also inevitable 
in all single lenses, although some manifest it in a much higher 
degree than others. All rectilinear lenses, however, should be 
absolutely free from it—their very name implies this—and if 
not they should be returned forthwith to the maker. Modern 
high-class lenses, also, should show no signs of it, except when 
one-half of the complete lens is used by itself, and even then it 
should be difficult to detect the distortion. There is no cure 
for this defect at all; it is not remedied by stopping down, and 
it unfits a lens for most architectural photography and for 
copying. For landscape, portrait, and hand-camera work 
generally, its presence, to the slight extent generally met with, 
makes no difference. 

Distortion has no effect at all on the centre of the picture 
and is due entirely to the position of the stop. In single 




lenses the stop is generally placed in front of the lens, that 
is between the lens and the subject. If with this arrange¬ 
ment we photograph a square, as in A, Fig. 7, the distortion 
gives us a figure such as B, this is known as “barrel-shaped 
distortion.” If the stop were put behind the lens, we should 
get the form shown in C, “cushion-shaped distortion.” The 
further the stop is in each case from the lens, the better is 
the definition and the worse the distortion. When, as in a 
rectilinear, the stop is midway between two lenses, the one 
kind of distortion neutralizes the other, and an undistorted 
image should be the result. While no degree of stopping 
down will remedy distortion, it can be reduced by lessening 
the distance between the lens and the stop ; this impairs the 













THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


definition, which in its turn is remedied by the use of a smaller 
stop. It is possible when a negative shows distortion, to make 
an enlargement from it with a single lens, with the stop in 
the opposite position, so that by again distorting the picture, 
but the opposite way, an undistorted result is finally attained. 

Theroetically the curves of a lens should not be parts of 
spheres, but should have a parabolical form. Such a form, 
however, presents such immense difficulties in manufacture 
as to put it quite outside the sphere of practical optics, the 
consequence is that photographic lenses suffer to some extent 
from what is known as “ spherical aberration ” ; although in 
the best forms, this is reduced to such a degree that it is not 
capable of detection in the ordinary way at all. To detect 
spherical aberration, a circle of black paper should be cut, 
the size of the front surface of the lens. Out of the centre 
of this should be cut another circle having a diameter of about 
two-thirds the first. This smaller circle is fastened in the 
centre of the front of the lens, with a drop of moisture, and 
the image is sharply focussed ; thus using the edges of the 
lens only, to form the picture. Removing the circle, without 
shifting the lens, it is wiped clean, and the black ring sub¬ 
stituted for the disc, thus using the centre of the lens only. 
If the image is still sharp, there is very little spherical aberra¬ 
tion, but if it has to be focussed again, the defect is present. 
The extent to which focussing has to be performed is an 
indication of the spherical aberration present. It is to be met 
with in all the cheaper forms of single lenses, in rectilinears 
and in portrait lenses; but should not be noticeable in an 
anastigmat. It is reduced by stopping down. 

However perfect *a lens may be in all other respects, there 
is always a possibility that its good points may be neutralized 
entirely by what is known as a “flare spot.” Given a suffi¬ 
ciently trying subject almost every lens can be made to yield 
a “ flare ” ; but if it is to be of any use at all, the flare spot 
must, under all ordinary conditions, be conspicuous by its 
absence. To examine for it, the camera should be taken into 
a room where it can be set up at some distance from a bright 
object, such as a window. Arranging things so that the image 
of the window falls on one corner of the plate, we must look 
carefully all over the ground glass for a disc of light or 


THE LENS IN PRINCIPLE 


53 


“ghost” of the image. If vve do not see one at first, it may 
be visible when the camera is moved a little. It is to be 
sought on the side of the centre of the field opposite to the 
image of the bright object. If it is present under these con¬ 
ditions the lens is of little or no use. Single lenses, as a rule, 
are free from flare spot, but the more separate surfaces of glass 
there are in a lens, and the steeper the curves of those surfaces, 
the more chance is there of trouble from this defect. 

A “flare spot” is the term generally applied when the 
flare is well defined ; when it is not so and is only present 
as a haze over the picture it is spoken of simply as flare. 
There must always be a certain amount of flare, but there 
should not be a flare spot. Before condemning a lens for flare, 
it is well to make quite sure the defect observed is not merely 
an image of some bright metal on the lens mount itself. The 
space between the combinations of a doublet lens, or the 
leaves of the stop or of the shutter, if the black is worn off, 
may give rise to what is at first supposed to be flare, yet is 
nothing of the kind. The lens should also be examined to 
make sure each separate glass is screwed into its proper place ; 
as in a carefully adjusted lens, a slight unscrewing of the one 
or other of its components may give rise to a flare spot, which 
disappears on the lens being properly screwed up. 

One more possible defect concludes the list. In lenses com¬ 
posed on one kind of glass, the rays of light of different colours 
come to a focus at different distances from the lens. Thus, if 
with such a lens we were to focus sharply the red light of a 
railway signal, we should find when it changed to green that it 
was no longer sharp, while if it changed to blue or violet as 
some signals do, the fuzziness would be still more pronounced. 
All colours are bent aside by a prism to different degrees ; in 
fact, we distinguish between them by saying that different 
coloured rays are of different “ refrangibility,” or bendingable- 
ness, to coin a word on the German system. Lenses to be 
used with the eye only, such as are employed in microscopes 
and telescopes, are “corrected” by the use of more kinds of 
glass than one, so that as many of the rays as possible come to 
a focus where the yellow rays do, yellow being the light to 
which the eye is most sensitive. In photographic lenses, much 
of the light to which the plate is sensitive is blue violet or even 


54 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


invisible, and this has to betaken into account when correcting 
lenses for use in photography. Lenses “ corrected for colour ” 
are said to be “ achromatic.” 

If we take an uncorrected lens and with it focus an image 
as sharply as possible, we shall find in consequence of the lack 
of correction, that the photograph is not sharp. As a matter 
of fact, the focus for those rays which most powerfully affect 
the plate is nearer to the lens than the sharpest position to the 
eye, by about one-fiftieth of the focal length. If, then, it is a 
5-inch lens, and after focussing it is racked in one-tenth of an 
inch, the image on the negative will be sharper than if this is 
not done. (But even so, no uncorrected lens will give as sharp 
a picture as one that has been properly achromatized.) There 
used to be “ periscopic ” lenses on the market (used in hand- 
cameras in which focussing is either not done at all, or is done 
by scale), which lenses were not achromatized, but the difference 
is allowed for in fixing them in the camera. These were only 
supplied in the very cheapest forms of apparatus, the definition 
at best is very poor, and are practically obsolete. 

It may be taken that all photographic lenses, properly so 
called, should be achromatic. To test this properly, if we can 
only be quite certain that the plate and the ground glass 
come exactly into the same place, and without this the test is 
valueless, nothing more should be necessary than to focus 
sharply some one of a series of objects at different distances 
from the camera, and expose a plate. If the sharpest object 
in the negative is that upon which the camera was focussed, 
the lens is properly corrected for colour; but if some object at 
a different distance is the sharper, then the lens is not properly 
corrected. This test is vitiated by any difference between the 
positions of the ground glass and plate respectively. 

To avoid this, and other possible inaccuracies, the following 
method of performing the test is a good one. Seven white 
cards, each about 2 by 8 inches are taken, and a hole is 
punched out at the end of each so that they can all be stiffly 
carried on a cedar pencil. At the other extremity of each card 
a number should be written in bold characters with good black 
ink. The cards are arranged at intervals of i inch on the 
pencil, and the seven are placed round it, so that on looking at 
the whole arrangement from one end, all the numbers are seen 


THE LENS IN PRINCIPLE 


55 


in order, in a circle, each number being i inch behind the 
next lower one. The pencil is fixed up horizontally in this 
manner, and the camera a few feet away, is set up, so that the 
numbers appear in the middle of the picture. The ground 
glass is placed in the dark slide itself, which is opened for the 
purpose, and while held in position the card marked No. 4 is 
focussed as sharply as possible. A plate is then substituted for 
the ground glass and the exposure is made. Number 4 ought 
to be the sharpest in the negative also. 

As in nearly every case, photographic lenses are only 
corrected for those rays which are most active on the plate, as 
soon as we come to use orthochromatic plates, with deep yellow 
screens which cut off nearly all these rays, such lenses no longer 
give a sharp image. This is particularly noticeable in three- 
colour work, where the colour screens cut off the light so 
decidedly that very few lenses, none in fact, unless specially 
well corrected, will give three pictures equally sharp without 
being refocussed, except when the focus is very short. In all 
ordinary cases, therefore, when a colour screen and ortho¬ 
chromatic plate are being used, the focussing should be done 
with the screen in position. 

A good many of these tests are such that the photographer 
may not feel that he has sufficient skill to make them, or 
knowledge to appreciate them when they are made; in such 
circumstances, he will do best if he intends to get a first- 
class modern lens, to go direct to one of the good makers and 
take what they are prepared to supply. He cannot then go far 
wrong. If he wants a specimen of work done with it, on no 
account should he take a landscape, portrait, or even an archi¬ 
tectural subject, but should have a negative of aflat test subject, 
such as has been here suggested, taken with the full aperture of 
the lens, and taken on a much reduced scale. This scale should 
be indicated. It is only under such conditions that the test 
negative will give any true indication of the qualities of the 
lens. Many of the specimens shown in shops are intended to 
catch the eye of those who are not in a position to know what 
a good lens should do; and are shown in the belief that those 
who are influenced by them will not know that good work may 
be done with a very poor instrument, if only the user knows 
how to make the most of it, and if the conditions are favourable. 


CHAPTER IV 


PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY 

Pinnole work—The character of the definition—Making pinholes—Measuring them 
—The sizes of needles—The camera extension—Arranging the subject—Over¬ 
exposure possible—Working out the exposure—Some advantages of pinhole 
work. 

T HE simplest contrivance for forming an image is a pinhole, 
and for landscape work, where the long exposure is not 
going to be troublesome, the pinhole is still useful. It has 
this advantage, that the image can be got on any scale with 
it, as it is always equally sharp (or almost so) however the 
focussing screen is pushed in or out. If, therefore, some 
particular object is to occupy the greater part of the plate, 
we may extend the camera and get its image larger and larger 
until it is the size we want; and we may go nearer to or 
farther from the object, until we get the drawing we want. 
With a pinhole, also, while there is at no time any very fine 
definition, there is not that gradation from sharp to blur, that 
is given by a properly corrected lens used at a large aperture. 

It was Dr. Emerson who first laid great stress on “ differential 
focussing"—the sharpness of the image suited to the require¬ 
ments of the picture, and blurring allowed to stifle obtrusive 
details. There is nothing to be said against the practice by 
pictorial photographers, but it is not as easy as it sounds. If 
the lens has a flat field, everything the same distance as the 
principal object will be sharp with it, whether it is wanted so or 
is to be subordinated by diffusion ; while if the lens has not 
a flat field, the focussing may be more erratic, but it is no more 
under the control of the photographer. While Dr. Emerson 
used it at times with complete success, other instances may be 
selected from his own work to show the limitations it imposed 
upon him. The pinhole knows none of these distinctions of 

56 



BY STEICHEN 






PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY 


57 


definition. If none of its image has the critical sharpness 
demanded by the optician, none need have any pronounced 
blur ; and plenty of pinhole photographs exist which, put in 
an album with others taken with lenses, would not attract 
attention from any imperfection of definition. The fact is, there 
is a fine quality about the pinhole image which, were it not for 
the lengthy exposures, would render it very popular for many 
purposes. The actual softness depends on the diameter of the 
hole ; the smaller the pinhole, the sharper the picture, within 
limits. 

Pieces of metal pierced with a hole of a definite size are on 
the market, and Watkins makes one which can be used, very 
conveniently, in connection with his exposure meter; but there 
is no actual necessity to purchase a pinhole, or even to make 
one in metal before trying a pinhole picture. Very good 
pinhole work has been done by removing the glasses from a 
lens mount, and placing a piece of blackened card across the 
opening of the stop. In the centre of this card is a hole about 
a quarter of an inch in diameter, or less, closed by gumming 
over it a piece of the thinnest black opaque paper procurable. 
When dry and tight, a hole is perforated in the black paper 
with a red-hot needle, using only the point, and the hole is then 
enlarged with the cold needle, until this just passes through it. 
With a little care all burr on the edges can be avoided. Mr. 
Combe, who has done much good pinhole work, recommends 
that the pinhole should be punched in a piece of the thinnest 
sheet brass procurable, using the point of a needle, and placing 
the brass on a piece of glass with a sheet of paper between the 
two. The needle is just allowed to perforate the brass, and 
then the burr is rubbed off with a piece of fine emery-paper. 
It is pushed a little further, and the burr again rubbed off; then 
a little further, and so on until the whole needle will just pass 
through the brass. The brass is then blackened. 

The idea of making the hole so that the selected needle will 
just pass through it, is to allow the hole itself to be measured ; 
as unless we know its diameter it is not possible to calculate 
the exposure it will require. The easiest way to measure it is 
to take care to have plenty of needles of the size, or of the 
maker’s number, used in piercing the hole. Two visiting-cards 
are then gummed down on a stouter card side by side, parallel 


58 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


and with exactly an inch between their nearest edges, and the 
needles are arranged between the two cards until the space is 
fully occupied, if forty needles are required to do this, the 
diameter of each must be one-fortieth of an inch, and this may 
be taken, with sufficient accuracy, as the diameter of the hole 
through which one of them will just pass. There is no absolute 
need for the cards to be an inch apart, half an inch or even a 
quarter may be sufficient to give the size of the needles. 
Another method is to pierce two holes in a piece of thin black 
paper with the needle that is to be measured, the holes being 
as accurately as possible an eighth of an inch apart. The 
paper is then put into an enlarging lantern and as big an image 
as possible is sharply focussed on a piece of white paper. The 
size of the image of the holes and their distance apart is marked 
on the paper with a sharp pencil, and measured at leisure. The 
actual distance apart in eighths of an inch gives the degree of 
magnification, and the diameter of the image of one of the holes 
divided by the degree of magnification gives the actual diameter 
of the hole. Rev. J. B. Thomson, who has done much pinhole 
work, points out that the three most useful sizes of holes are 
those made by No. io, No. 11 , and No. 12 needles, and that 
these are, approximately, ^, and inch in diameter 

respectively. Of these, No. 10 is the most generally useful, 
but at times even No. 8 , - 4 L inch, may be a convenience. By 
using these needles, the necessity for measuring the hole 
itself is avoided. 

Though there is no fixed position of the focussing screen in 
pinhole work corresponding to the focus of the lens, there are 
limits within which alone the pinhole can be used, though these 
are very wide limits, the angle included on the plate being at 
least as variable as with ordinary lenses. For reasons which 
need not detain us, there is a position for the focussing screen 
where the definition is at its best, but the improvement over 
other positions is not sufficiently great for that to be determined 
by trial, while the position given by theory is still a matter of 
discussion. Mr. Combe says that the best camera extension is 
that obtained by squaring the width of a hundred needles of 
the size employed to pierce the hole, and dividing the result by 
eight. If the plate is placed at this distance from the pinhole 
the maximum of sharpness is obtained. As the pinhole allows 


PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY 


59 


very little light to enter the camera, it is hardly possible, except 
when circumstances are very unusual, to arrange the subject on 
the ground glass by means of it. Some pinhole workers carry 
a comparatively large hole which they use for this purpose, 
substituting the smaller hole when exposing. An alternative 
plan is to remove the focussing screen entirely, to turn the 
camera round until it points away from the subject, and then 
putting the eye to the pinhole, to arrange the picture in the 
opening formed by the frame that held the ground glass, racking 
this in or out until the proportions borne by the different parts 
of the subject are those required. By taking a sight along one 
angle of the camera, it should be possible, then, to turn it round 
until it is pointing in exactly the opposite direction, when the 
picture as seen through the pinhole will be that which falls on 
the plate. This is not absolutely the case, unless the pinhole 
is exactly above the tripod screw on which the rotation was 
performed, but, provided the tripod top is level, it is quite true 
enough in all ordinary cases. 

It has been said that it is impossible to over-expose with a 
pinhole; probably all that is meant is, that those who are 
accustomed to lens exposures and do not trouble to find out 
what the relative pinhole exposures should be, are not likely 
to over-expose. Otherwise over-exposure is just as easy as it 
is with a lens. Theoretically, the pinhole, aperture and exten¬ 
sion considered, should be faster than a lens, as all glass absorbs 
a great deal of the invisible ultra-violet light to which the plate 
is sensitive ; but the reverse seems to be the case, and exposures 
may be increased by about half as much again as the F/- 
number would seem to require. To determine the exposure with 
a pinhole this F/- number must be calculated. The length of the 
exposure generally allows this to be done deliberately enough. 
The diameter of the hole being known, an extension of I inch has 
that as its F/- number. For instance, with a No. io needle 
which gives a hole -^ 5 inch in diameter, when the plate is an 
inch from the hole, we are working at F/55. The exposure for 
F/55 is obtained exactly as if a lens at that opening were being 
used. Of course a much longer extension is employed, and 
the exposure is increased as the square of that extension. Thus 
if the distance from the hole to the plate is 8 inches, the 
exposure is eight times eight or sixty-four times that with F/55* 


60 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


or may be regarded with sufficient accuracy in such a case as 
as many minutes as F/55 needed seconds. This time may then 
be increased to half as much again as just pointed out. There 
is no real difficulty about working out these exposures, as they 
can be done with pencil and paper after the exposure is started; 
but by using the gauged pinhole supplied by Watkins, the 
application of the Watkins meter to pinhole work becomes still 
easier. A lens cap or shutter is not required for work of this 
character, the focussing cloth may be hung over the hole to 
obscure it while drawing the shutter of the dark slide, but even 
this is not often required. 

In other respects, pinhole photography does not differ from 
that done with lenses. The drawing is the same as with any 
rectilinear lens. The swing back and rising and cross fronts 
serve the same purpose with both. The prolonged exposure 
is not always a drawback. In a crowded street, where buildings 
are wanted, and the traffic is a nuisance, by using a very small 
pinhole the exposure is so prolonged that all the moving parts 
are lost entirely, and the buildings appear without any sign of 
traffic before them. In landscape work, wind may be very 
troublesome, especially if it is a high wind, but a great deal of 
the trouble which one may experience with a lens, from the 
trembling of leaves when a faint breath passes over them, is 
missed together, the pinhole giving a sort of “average” position 
for leaves and branches, from which any momentary departure 
has not been recorded. Pinholes have been used for portraiture. 
The definition given by a fairly large pinhole in such a case is 
very agreeable, and the prolonged exposure is not without its 
good points also, in doing away to a large extent with fleeting 
expressions and getting an “average” result. But exposures 
usually run into several minutes, even under the most favourable 
conditions. 


CHAPTER V 

the drawing of a photograph 


-No essential difference in perspective between a photograph and a painting—Vievr 
point the ruling condition—Impossible viewpoints—Pugin—Wide angles suggest 
distortion—Suitable lenses to avoid the appearance of strained perspective—The 
centre of the picture plane—Different appearances from the same standpoint 
Plane perspective—Panoramic or cylindrical perspective. 

PHE idea that in some way or another the perspective of a 
photograph differs from the perspective of a painting 
goes deep into the painter’s mind, and is possessed somewhat 
hazily, perhaps, but still possessed by the public and by many 
photographers. Yet any difference that there may be is due 
entirely to casual imperfections of the painting or of the photo¬ 
graph ; the photographic image, with only reasonable care, is 
true every time, and the painting in all matters of perspective 
as closely resembles a photograph as the painter can get it. 
Later on we shall see exactly of what the supposed difference 
in drawing between the two representations consists; for the 
present it is well to recall exactly what it is that both photo¬ 
grapher and painter try to obtain. 

If a scene in nature is looked at through a window with 
one eye only, keeping the eye steadily in one place, everything 
visible through the glass can be referred to some place on the 
glass, so that if we had a steady hand and a brush set in a long 
handle we might sketch on the glass the outline of the scene 
in question ; and so long as the eye, the glass, and the scene, 
were unmoved, the outlines of every detail would fall in exactly 
the same place on the glass. If the glass were vertical, the 
outline sketch so made would be identical in perspective with the 
drawing which a painter would try to make if he desired to repre¬ 
sent the scene as viewed from the point occupied by the eye, and 
any difference between the two would be due to the painter’s 

61 


62 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


want of ability. In the same way, a photograph taken with 
the lens in the position occupied by the eye would give identical 
drawing with that on the glass. The only difference would be 
if the plate in the camera were not vertical, or if a single lens 
were used under severe conditions, when some of the lines 
which were straight in the original might appear slightly curved 
in the photograph. Such a drawing as we have imagined would 
be said to be in true monocular perspective. 

What then is the cause of the supposed difference between 
the “ perspective ” of the painter and of the photographer ? It 
is twofold. In the first place, the photographic lens will include 
a much wider angle than the human eye, and if the photo¬ 
grapher allows this wide angle to be included in his picture, he 
at once gets an apparent falsity. It is not a defect of the lens, 
but merely a superabundance, and can be corrected by trimming 
the print down. In the second place, the photographer must 
go to his standpoint and set up his camera there, or he cannot 
get the view as seen from that standpoint. The painter is 
under no such restrictions. He can sit and work in one place 
and make his drawing as if it were seen from another, which 
other may be inaccessible or even impossible. Thus, in Pugin’s 
“Normandy,” the interiors are drawn as if one of the sides of 
each building was removed, and the interior seen from a point 
some distance outside.* Could the wall have been pulled 
down and the camera placed there, the photograph would 
have given precisely the same drawing as that at which the 
draughtsman aimed, but in the circumstances it could not, and 
the photographer has at least the consolation of knowing 
that no eye could ever see the building as it was drawn, and 
that the drawing, however well it may record the details and 
the proportions of the structure, does not and cannot give any 
true impression of that general effect at which the architect 
himself aimed. The result is that in every case the visitor 
whose ideas of the structure have been gathered from the draw¬ 
ings, has a feeling of disappointment when he first sees the 
reality. It looks narrowed and dwarfed. 

It is generally only in portraiture and architecture that 
there is any suggestion of distortion about a photograph that 
includes too wide an angle ; but in landscape, if it is not 

* Sherar’s “Perspective Tables,” p. 40. Sinclair : Edinburgh, 1905. 


THE DRAWING OF A PHOTOGRAPH 



actually suggested, the error is there all the same, and is best 
avoided. Even photographic lenses of ordinary angles include 
too much to give the best effect, which, it will be found, can 
only be ensured by the width of the picture being kept down 
to a maximum of one and a half times the focus of the lens, 
less is better. This can be done, of course, simply by trimming 
the print; but, as with a wide angle lens, this would mean that a 
great deal of the area of both plates and prints might be wasted ; 
it is better to obtain the same result by the use of a longer 
focus lens. Thus, if we wish every photograph to be free from 
suspicion of “strained perspective,” a 6J-inch lens would be 
the shortest focus to be used on a quarter plate, a io-inch on a 
half plate, a 13-inch on a whole plate, and so on. Such lenses, 
though theoretically those which ought to be used, are fully 
long for many purposes, and photographers therefore generally 
use 5, 7, and 10-inch lenses or thereabouts on the sizes named. 
In most cases the difference is not very appreciable, but where 
the subject is of such a character as to show up any excessive 
angle, these generally used lenses will give results which, unless 
trimmed down, will look distinctly false. 

The so-called distortion of photographs is, therefore, due to 
the selection of a standpoint which is unsuitable, and to the 
inclusion of too wide an angle in the picture. If such a lens as 
we have supposed were selected, and the photographer were 
limited in size to the plate for which it was designed, say a 
Io-inch lens on a half plate, none of the alleged distortion could 
exist, as he would be compelled to select the more distant 
point of view if he wanted to get as much of the subject on the 
plate as he would with a shorter focus lens. It would be a very 
simple way of preventing the apparent falsity, but would 
hamper him considerably in some classes of work, as he would 
often find the more distant view point inaccessible, as in the 
case of the Normandy interiors already cited. 

The drawing of the lens, then, is the same as would be 
obtained by placing the eye at the position of the lens and a flat 
sheet of glass vertically between the eye and the subject, and 
tracing the outlines of the subject where they appeared to fall 
on the glass. The focus of the lens only decides the scale of 
the picture, the position of the eye decides the perspective. 
The position of the glass is also important. There has long 


64 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


been a convention in drawing that all vertical lines in the 
subject shall be rendered in the perspective drawing as vertical 
too, and, therefore, parallel to each other. This is rendered 
necessary by our habit of regarding all pictures as hanging 
vertically, with the axis of the eye directed towards their 
centre. In order that this convention may be complied with, 
the sheet of glass on which our perspective picture is supposed 
to be traced must be vertical also. For the same reason the 
photographer’s plate must be vertical, and if the camera is 
tipped up, the back must be swung to bring the plate so, or all 
upright lines in the subject in the picture will appear to fall 
together at the top. That this is purely a convention can be 
proved by those who care to take the trouble, by making such 
a distorted photograph, enlarging it, and then fixing it in a 
box in such a way that it can only be seen by applying the eye 
to a hole in a box in such a position that the bottom of the 
picture is much nearer to the eye than the top. A position can 
be found, without very much trouble, in which the most dis¬ 
torted picture will look perfectly natural. 

There is another aspect of this perspective question which 
does not have the attention it deserves from photographers; 
and that is the position of what Mr. Sherar, in the admirable 
little book already mentioned, calls “ the centre of the picture 
plane.” He is writing for draughtsmen ; but we may apply his 
argument to photography to our profit. A perpendicular to the 
imaginary sheet of glass may be dropped from the point of 
sight. This is “ the perspective axis ” or the “ axis of the 
picture plane ” and the point at which it cuts the surface of our 
imaginary sheet of glass is “the centre of the picture plane.” 
It is well the sheet of glass is imaginary, as it may have to 
undergo considerable extension to be cut by the perspective 
axis at all. Now the appearance of the subject may vary 
enormously according to the position of the centre of the 
picture plane, which may be in the centre of the picture itself, 
or a long way outside it. This can hardly be better illustrated 
than in the three photographs which, by the courtesy of Mr. 
Sherar, we are enabled to reproduce from his book, “ Perspective 
Tables.” These were all taken from absolutely the same stand¬ 
point, and differ only in scale and in the position of the centre 
of the picture plane. 









THREE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE SAME STANDPOINT 

(See p. 6j) 

REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR FROM “.PERSPECTIVE TABLES” BY ROBERT F. SHERAR 









THE DRAWING OF A PHOTOGRAPH 


65 


Few photographers would suspect that all three pictures were 
taken without moving the tripod. They are, of course, not put 
forward as examples to follow, but as exaggerations to illus¬ 
trate the effect. In Z we have the view of the building which 
the photographer would secure who turned his camera to face 
the building and then trimmed his print liberally on all sides. 
In the other two we have the pictures he would get by turning 
the camera away from the building till it was only just included 
on the edge of a picture obtained with a wide angle lens, one 
showing the result with the camera turned one way, one the 
result with the other. We could either take the two latter pic¬ 
tures each on a large plate, with the lens opposite its centre, 
and then trim more than half of each print off on one side, or 
we could slide the lens on the cross front until that part of the 
field of view which contained the building was central. The 
results of the two methods would not be appreciably different 
in drawing. 

The photographer has little difficulty in determining the 
centre of his picture plane, as this must always be where the 
axis of the lens cuts the plate, provided the back and the front 
of the camera are parallel. If the back is swung at all, the 
centre of the picture plane is no longer on the axis of the lens, 
but is where a perpendicular from the optical centre of the lens 
would cut the plate or its prolongation. There is little need to 
know the position of the centre of the picture plane ; what is 
important is to see that no very great distance separates it 
from the centre of the picture itself, if the effect is to look true. 
The two pictures X and Y only convey a truthful impression 
to the eye if viewed with the eye in a line perpendicular to A 
and B respectively at the distance AB. To get the eye as 
near as this and yet to see clearly requires a weak magnifying 
glass. As the spectator of a picture has little or no guide as 
to the proper position from which to view it in order to get a 
truthful effect, and as his tendency is to see it at such a dis¬ 
tance as makes its width subtend an angle of from thirty to 
sixty degrees while standing approximately opposite to some 
part of it, and not opposite the wall beyond one of its edges, it 
has become a recognized convention that a greater angle than 
sixty degrees should not be included, and that the centre ot the 
picture plane shall oe within the picture itself. "I here is no 
r 





THREE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE SAME STANDPOINT 

(See p. J 

REPRODUCED BV PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR FROM “.PERSPECTIVE TABLES” BY ROBERT F. SHERAR 








THE DRAWING OF A PHOTOGRAPH 


65 


Few photographers would suspect that all three pictures were 
taken without moving the tripod. They are, of course, not put 
forward as examples to follow, but as exaggerations to illus¬ 
trate the effect. In Z we have the view of the building which 
the photographer would secure who turned his camera to face 
the building and then trimmed his print liberally on all sides. 
In the other two we have the pictures he would get by turning 
the camera away from the building till it was only just included 
on the edge of a picture obtained with a wide angle lens, one 
showing the result with the camera turned one way, one the 
result with the other. We could either take the two latter pic¬ 
tures each on a large plate, with the lens opposite its centre, 
and then trim more than half of each print off on one side, or 
we could slide the lens on the cross front until that part of the 
held of view which contained the building was central. The 
results of the two methods would not be appreciably different 
in drawing. 

The photographer has little difficulty in determining the 
centre of his picture plane, as this must always be where the 
axis of the lens cuts the plate, provided the back and the front 
of the camera are parallel. If the back is swung at all, the 
centre of the picture plane is no longer on the axis of the lens, 
but is where a perpendicular from the optical centre of the lens 
would cut the plate or its prolongation. There is little need to 
know the position of the centre of the picture plane ; what is 
important is to see that no very great distance separates it 
from the centre of the picture itself, if the effect is to look true. 
The two pictures X and Y only convey a truthful impression 
to the eye if viewed with the eye in a line perpendicular to A 
and B respectively at the distance AB. To get the eye as 
near as this and yet to see clearly requires a weak magnifying 
glass. As the spectator of a picture has little or no guide as 
to the proper position from which to view it in order to get a 
truthful effect, and as his tendency is to see it at such a dis¬ 
tance as makes its width subtend an angle of from thirty to 
sixty degrees while standing approximately opposite to some 
part of it, and not opposite the wall beyond one of its edges, it 
has become a recognized convention that a greater angle than 
sixty degrees should not be included, and that the centre ot the 
picture plane shall be within the picture itself. There is no 

F 


66 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


need for it to be in the centre of the picture, in fact, in very 
many cases it is better not to be so, but it ought not to be very 
far from the centre if the impression is to be a truthful one ; while 
another reason for a central position is that in any other, the 
lens is not being used at its best. 

The difference in drawing which is obtained from different 
standpoints is often overlooked by the photographer, whose 
main concern seems to be “ to get it all on ” the plate ; and we 
often see one approach a subject with the sole idea of in¬ 
creasing its scale on the plate, although by doing so its 
perspective may suffer. Apart from the abruptness of the 
convergence of lines obtained in this way, the principal photo¬ 
graphic effect is in the scale of the distance as compared with 
the foreground. The images of two men, one of whom is 
three or four yards further from the camera than the other, if 
photographed from a distance of say four yards will appear 
widely different in size. If they are taken with a much longer 
focus lens from a distance of twenty or thirty yards, they will 
be almost alike in size. Concentrating the attention on a near 
object, as is usually done when photographing, and getting it 
in each case of the same size on the plate-, the nearer the 
camera is to it, the more the distance is dwarfed in size in 
proportion to the near object. 

There is one other aspect of this question to be considered, 
and that came into prominence a few years ago by the intro¬ 
duction of panoramic cameras, in which the film was curved 
and the lens rotated. The drawing obtained with such instru¬ 
ments is quite different from that which all other cameras yield. 
We no longer have the perspective of the subject as it would be 
delineated on a flat sheet of glass interposed between it and the 
eye ; but as it would appear if the glass were a portion of a 
cylinder of a radius equal to the focus of the lens, and placed 
vertically (Fig. 8). There is no longer a picture plane, but 
a picture cylinder, and the centre of the picture plane has 
become a straight line. Consequently viewed as truthful 
representations of wide panoramas, such prints are unsatis¬ 
factory and false, unless seen under proper conditions. These 
are that the picture should be curved to the same extent as 
was the film originally, and the eye placed at the centre of 
curvature. When this is done, the drawing appears as truthful 


THE DRAWING OF A PHOTOGRAPH 


67 


as the most accurate one on a flat surface ; and even when it is 
not, the panoramic picture is less objectionable by far than 
would be one including the same angle, if that were possible, 
and taken on a flat plate, because the curving surface of the 
film prevents the apparent distortion of objects viewed by the 
lens very obliquely. The movement of the lens also removes 
all difficulty from the falling off in illumination so noticeable in 
wide angle lenses as we approach the margin of the field. 

Photographic perspective, then, is in no sense whatever 
different from the perspective of the painter or the draughts¬ 
man. Any blame for apparent distortion must be borne not 
by the camera, but by its user, who has neglected to select the 
best point of sight for his camera, or has at least chosen to 




Fig. 8. 


take it from an unsatisfactory view point rather than not at 
all, and has allowed too wide an angle to be included in his 
print. These faults are grave ones where pictorial work is 
concerned, or where it is important to convey a true impression 
even at the most superficial glance, but have no validity at any 
other time As a scientific record, a photograph of a building 
taken with some freak lens which may include an angle as wide 
as 130 0 , provided we know the standpoint, is no more un¬ 
truthful or false or distorted than is a map of the world on 
Mercator’s projection, which represents the poles as straight 
lines of length equal to that of the equator. Both are sys¬ 
tematic representations of solid objects on a flat surface, and 
are only deceiving to those who cannot read their message 
aright. 












CHAPTER VI 

THE SELECTION OF A LENS 

The uncorrected single lens—Corrected single lenses—Rectilinears and svrametricals 
—The wide-angle rectilinear—The advantages of the anastigmat—The Petzval 
portrait lens—Dallmeyer’s modification; with the arrangement for diffusion of 
focus—Abbe and Schott and the Jena glasses—Anastigmats—Costly lenses — 
A nocturnal expedition—The Grim lens—The Hypergon—Telephotographic 
lenses—The Adon—The Dallmeyer-Bergheim lenses for pictorial work. 

T HE variety in design and construction of photographic 
lenses is very great, far greater, in fact, than in the 
character of the results obtained with them. This, from our 
point of view, which is that of the amateur photographer pure 
and simple, is something for which to be grateful, as the subject 
of lens calculation and design is hardly one to be taken up in 
a dilletante manner. It has been said to be the one occupa¬ 
tion for which the education of a senior wrangler has fitted 
him, and it certainly demands a degree of mathematical know¬ 
ledge which is not at all common. We can pass over all the 
intricacies of lens construction, therefore, and view them from 
a standpoint aptly described by a celebrated optician as that 
of the lens phrenologist, whose acquaintance with the inward¬ 
ness of his instrument is limited to what can be got by feeling 
its bumps. 

The simplest form, the uncorrected single lens, is still 
sometimes used by those who do not care for definition. When 
applied to another, as a “ magnifier,” it is usually so weak that 
its want of correction is slight enough in its influence on the 
combination to be ignored altogether, but a single lens to be 
used by itself will only give definition as good as that obtained 
with a pinhole by stopping it down very much. As it is not 
achromatized, the focus for the chemical rays will differ from 
that for the visual rays. After focussing on the screen with 

63 


THE SELECTION OF A LENS 


69 


such a lens, this has to be allowed for, by racking the back 
nearer to the lens after focussing by about one-fiftieth of that 
total distance. Some uncorrected single lenses are sold with a 
supplementary lens or magnifier which is inserted for focussing, 
and then is taken out, its absence making the allowance 
required. The aims and aspirations of those who use un- 
corrected lenses, however, are generally of such a kind that 
the subject of definition concerns them very little. 

Many fixed-focus hand-cameras are fitted with corrected 
single lenses, and excellent work can be done with them. 
Their largest aperture as a rule is F/14, or F/16, and except 
that there is always some slight degree of distortion they are 
efficient, if not fast. For portrait work, particularly for large 
heads taken direct, a single lens may be used, and used at 
a large aperture, F/8 or even F/6. It is said to give greater 
roundness than the portrait lens, and is also by no means so 
heavy or so expensive. A portrait lens of 15 or 20 inches 
focus needs not only a specially built camera but almost 
a specially constructed stand to carry it, whereas a single lens 
of that length is not at all unwieldy. The longer focus is 
essential if the drawing of the portrait is to be satisfactory. 
Most single lenses are of the “ meniscus ” type externally ; that 
is to say, one surface is concave and the other convex. It is 
customary to employ them with the convex side turned towards 
the plate, and the stop placed some little distance away on the 
other side of the lens. The single lens reaches its highest 
point of perfection in those anastigmatic forms which are 
composed of one completely corrected combination of three 
or four glasses cemented together, made to be used either by 
itself or with another of a similar kind to form a rectilinear 
combination. In such instruments perfect definition is the 
object, which of course, in the single lens for portraiture just 
referred to, is not the case. 

Next to the single lens comes the “rectilinear,” formed 
apparently of two single lenses placed with their concave 
surfaces towards each other and the stop between them. In 
certain very cheap forms, each of these two lenses is composed 
of a single glass. The lens is, therefore, uncorrected for colour 
and must be used in the way referred to earlier in this 
chapter. Such lenses were known as “periscopic” or as 


70 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


“ periscopes,” and were not very satisfactory in any way, except 
that the distortion obtained with a single lens was got rid ol 
almost entirely with them. 




A 


B 



Fig. 9.—-Pre Anastigmat 

A. Corrected single lens (meniscus). 

B. Uncorrectcd doublet (periscope). 

C. Rapid rectilinear or symmetrical. 


Lenses—Some well-known types. 

D. Wide-angle rectilinear or portable symmetrical. 

E. Petzval portrait lens. 

F. Dallmeyer’s modified Petzval lens. 


Practically all rectilinear lenses now sold are achromatic, that 
is to say, each of the two ‘‘combinations” consists of two glasses 



















































THE SELECTION OF A LENS 


71 


cemented together, as shown at C and D in Fig. 9. One form 
of the rectilinear had its glasses close together, and a com¬ 
paratively small stop between them, and was known as the 
wide-angle rectilinear. The rapid rectilinear usually has F/8 
as its largest stop, but many have been made which could be 
usedatF/6; these were known as “ Euryscopes.” The wide- 
angle rectilinear generally had F/i6as its maximum opening. 
There is not necessarily any real advantage in getting a rapid 
rectilinear that is fitted with a stop as large as F/6, as it cannot 
be used at this opening with any satisfaction, unless its angle 
of view is comparatively small. It must not be supposed in 
buying a lens that it is of necessity any better because its maker 
has fitted it with a larger stop than another. In fact, it may 
even be worse, as an indication of a lower standard either of 
definition or of business morality. No finer “R.R.” lenses were 
ever made than the Dallmeyer rapid rectilinears, and the maker 
adopted for these a standard opening of F/8, although in ex¬ 
ceptional circumstances such lenses were made with larger 
openings both by Dallmeyer and by Voigtlander. 

The rapid and wide angle rectilinears for many years had 
an immense vogue. They represented the high-water mark of 
the optician, and were made by many under the most diverse 
names, though the most important syllables of “rectilinear” or 
“ symmetrical ” were usually worked into the greco-latin hybrids 
by which they were designated. They have now subsided into 
a type ; they are no longer pre-eminent; their price has fallen ; 
and if their reputation has not fallen too, it has at least dropped 
back relatively to that of rival forms. The Ross “ Rapid Sym¬ 
metrical ” and “ Portable Symmetrical ” were practically rapid 
and wide angle rectilinears, and for long shared pre-eminence 
with the Dallmeyer R.R.’s, until the anastigmats by the same and 
other makers were introduced. A good rapid rectilinear lens 
is a very good all-round tool to-day, and may well satisfy those 
who cannot afford more expensive patterns. ft may give 
results that are quite indistinguishable from tnose obtained 
with an anastigmat, provided it is used on work for which it is 
fitted—landscapes, architecture, and general photography. It 
is when it is employed at a large aperture, on subjects with 
very fine detail, and especially on flat objects as in copying, that 
the anastigmat begins to reveal its superiority; but except 


72 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


where exposures must be very short, as in hand-camera work, 
there is no reason why any one should be able to detect from 
the prints that the lens employed was one and not the other. 

The fallacy of supposing that the older types, such as R.R., 
were as good as modern patterns still exists, and is not made 
any less absurd by the admissions in the previous paragraph. 
It is only held by those who either have not had an oppor¬ 
tunity of critically comparing the two, or else from defective 
vision—mental or ocular—are incapable of appreciating fine 
definition. “If an R.R. lens works at F/8, what is the advan¬ 
tage of an anastigmat also working at F/8 and costing six or 
eight times as much ? ” the author was asked quite recently. 
The reply, of course, was that if F/8 were used with both, the 
definition given by the anastigmat would, on the whole, be 
finer, or, put another way, the anastigmat might often be used 
at F/8 when the rectilinear would have to be stopped down to 
F/16 to get as good a result. Closely examined, the definition 
of a well-constructed anastigmat is distinctly superior to that 
of the R.R., even when the latter is very much stopped down. 

In the very earliest days of photography, in 1841, Professor 
Petzval, of Vienna, realizing the importance of reducing ex¬ 
posure as much as possible, an importance far greater then than 
now, constructed his portrait lens of the type shown in Fig. 9. 
(The arrow in the case of all these lens diagrams points 
into the camera.) Most of the special portrait lenses used 
to-day are of this type, although modified in some respects. It 
will be seen that they are composed of three separate glasses. 
The front one is itself composed of two, cemented together. 
There is an air-space between the back pair, and if such a lens 
is taken to pieces, particular care should be taken to put each 
glass back in its proper place. To prevent all risk of confusion, 
a card should be cut to the curvature of each surface, and the 
position of that surface written on it as a record. Should the 
glasses then at any time get mixed, reference to the cards will 
enable the lens to be put together properly. Dallmeyer’s 
patent portrait lenses are a modification of the Petzval form. 
These lenses are so made that by unscrewing them at the back 
and so increasing the separation of the two glasses, a certain 
“ diffusion of focus,” or softening, due to increased spherical 
aberration, can be obtained. Pictorial workers have found this a 



DUTCH CANAL 









TIIE SELECTION OF A LENS 


73 


great convenience. Many like to use it to whom anything like 
“blur” is objectionable, because it is a curious fact, but capable 
of explanation, that when a slight diffusion is introduced all 
over the picture the result may look less objectionably “ fuzzy ” 
than when there is extreme sharpness in one place, and when 
the whole is sharper than in the previous case. But this only 
applies to a slight degree of diffusion, and a great deal can be 
obtained when required with the Dallmeyer portrait lens. 
An improved mounting is now made which allows the unscrew¬ 
ing to be done from outside the lens, in front of it, while other 
forms by means of rods and universal joints allow it to be done 
from the ground glass itself. 

Most portrait lenses work at F/4 or thereabouts, but they 
have been made to work at F/2, or even at larger apertures 
than that. The great increase in the speed of plates has made 
portraiture possible with lenses of much smaller aperture, and 
those of the “ portrait ” type, such as we have been discussing, 
are now used chiefly by professional photographers. The 
amateur will either use his landscape or R.R. lens for por¬ 
traiture, or, if he is pictorially inclined, will favour a long focus 
single lens, or perhaps such an instrument as the Dallmeyer- 
Bergheim. A portrait lens, as a rule, makes a good enlarging 
lens and is also excellent in the optical lantern. Such lenses 
have been used in hand-cameras, and for instantaneous work 
of special kinds, such as the photography of express trains; 
but their limitations in this direction are great, and those who 
wish to take up high-speed work seriously must be prepared 
to pay the price for a very rapid anastigmat. 

Many references to the anastigmat have been made already, 
and it is possible the reader has come to regard it as a definite 
type, very much as the rectilinear, but it is not so. In the 
eighties Abbe and Schott, financially assisted by the Prussian 
Government, which was untrammelled by any laisser faire 
theories, carried out a long investigation on the subject of 
optical-glass making, which until that date had been in the 
hands of Parisian and Birmingham makers almost completely. 
The result was the establishment of the Jena glass works, 
which, making many new varieties of glass, succeeded in 
cornering the optical glass industry. This was the position 
reached when war broke out. Then, for aerial photography, 


74 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


optical glass of the Jena varieties was essential ; and British 
makers, with State encouragement instead of State neglect, 
were soon able to provide all that was needed. If they are 
left to fight it out fairly, there is no doubt that the British 
optical glass industry can hold the first position once more, 
as it did before 1880. It must be remembered that it only 
lost it when its German rivals were actively helped by the 
State. 

The various new glasses referred to, are of widely different 
kinds, possessing an important range of qualities from the lens- 
maker’s point of view. One of these qualities makes possible 
the reduction of the defect known as astigmatism to such an 
extent as to be practically non-existent. The lenses which take 
advantage of this are known as anastigmats. The methods of 
using the glasses to obtain this result are very varied, and the 
upshot of the change has been to substitute many widely 
differing designs for the comparatively simple R.R., wide-angle 
rectilinear, and portrait types, which occupied the whole field 
before the appearance of the anastigmats. 

Little would be gained and a great deal of space would be 
occupied by an attempt to describe all these different forms. 
In most cases the lenses are doublets with the stop between 
them, and in some the two halves may be used separately, 
in others they cannot. The “ Cooke ” and the “ Aldis ” are 
examples of anastigmats of which the separate combinations 
cannot be used, except of course with an extremely small stop, 
when any lens can be used. The Cooke, which is the invention 
of Mr. H. Dennis Taylor of York, and is made by Messrs. 
Taylor Taylor and Hobson at one of the most perfect factories 
of the kind in the world, takes several forms. One, a very 
convenient hand-camera lens, is so arranged that the separation 
of the front and second glasses can be altered by turning a ring. 
This alters the focus of the lens, so that focussing for different 
distances can be carried out without any movement of the 
camera front or back. The “ Aldis ” is an extremely simple 
type of “ anistigmat,” which is comparatively cheap to make and 
is low priced but very efficient. 

The “Stigmatic” of Dallmeyer is made in at least three 
distinct types, and is a very high-class anastigmat. The 
combinations may be used separately, and in this respect it 


THE SELECTION OF A LENS 


75 


occupies an intermediate position between those which have 
just been named and those which are to follow. That is to 
say, the single combinations of the Stigmatic lens must be 
stopped down to about F/22 before they give as fine definition 
as that yielded by the complete instrument. One series of the 
Stigmatics works at F/4, and is a most efficient portrait lens, 
especially where space is limited; though it is, of course, 
preferable to use as long a focus lens for the purpose as 
possible. 

The last class of anastigmats includes the Homocentric and 
the “Convertible” of Ross, the Holostigmat of Watson and 
others. These are all symmetrical, that is to say, they are com¬ 
posed of two lenses identical in construction and (sometimes) 
identical in size, placed back to back with the stop between 
them. Half the lens can be used by itself, the focus being then 
approximately doubled. Some of the lenses in this class 
represent the high-water mark of lens construction, and, 
incidentally, of lens price. 

The question how far the quality which these high-class 
lenses possess is worth paying for, is not one that can be 
answered offhand. Even assuming, and it is a big assump¬ 
tion, that the more costly instruments do not in most cases 
give an appreciably better result than lenses of a less expensive 
nature, there is no doubt that they woik at a bigger aperture, 
that under trying conditions they show their superiority, and 
also that they possess a market value as second-hand instru¬ 
ments very much nearer to their original cost price than is 
the case with the cheaper types. It is not an invariable rule 
by any means that the more expensive the lens the better 
it is; but as a rough guide price is not to be despised. 
Certainly it is not possible to make and supply at a low 
price a lens of both the quality and the adaptability of the 
modern symmetrical doublets; and the photographer who 
values definition and rapidity, will do well to buy the best 
lens to which his pocket will stretch. If he goes to any 
of the makers to whom we have alluded, he has at least the 
satisfaction of knowing that he gets an instrument made 
by a manufacturer with a high reputation to maintain, and 
that at the worst he should be able to get two-thirds or 
more of its list price should he make up his mind to part 
with it. 


76 THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 

There is one drawback about the use of costly lenses, which 
may be guessed from a nocturnal expedition at which we 
once assisted, fortunately only to the extent of holding a 
lantern. It was one chilly autumn night, after all the regular 
inhabitants had retired to rest, when a small party of photo¬ 
graphers went down to a certain village bridge. After pre¬ 
liminary observations, one of the party plunged into the river, 
and disported himself mysteriously for about a quarter of an 
hour. At the end of that time he emerged, cold, moist, but 
triumphant, with the front half of his anastigmat rescued from 
a watery bed, whither he had consigned it in the course of the 
afternoon while trying to get a long focus view from the bridge 
itself. 

The demand for more and more rapidity has led to the 
construction of curious lenses at different times, one of the 
most remarkable in appearance being the Grun, in which 
the space between two of the combinations was occupied by 
fluid. This was not the first “ liquid ” lens by any means, an 
ingenious form having been devised by Sutton quite half a 
century ago for very wide angle views. These departures 
from recognized optical practice have proved more curious 
than successful; and the demand for an extremely rapid lens 
for kinematograph work, as the pictures needed were so small, 
has been met by the construction of modified forms of the 
portrait lens working at F/2 or thereabouts, and giving remark¬ 
ably good definition. 

Another curious lens was the result of efforts to provide 
an extremely wide angle instrument. It was known as the 
“ Hypergon.” No other instrument would approach it in the 
angle it would embrace, including 135 0 , and working at F/22. 
This means that the lens would cover a plate whose diagonal 
was five times the focus. The difficulty with all wide angle 
lenses is the very rapid falling off in the illumination of the 
picture as the edges are approached ; and with such an angle 
as that of the “ Hypergon,” it became absolutely necessary to 
counteract this in some way. A little opaque disc, cut into the 
shape of a star, was delicately pivoted, so that it could be 
rotated in front of the lens by the air from a rubber bulb. The 
star obscured the centre of the lens, but allowed more and more 


THE SELECTION OF A LENS 


77 


light to reach the parts of the lens as they were farther and 
farther from the centre. Were the whole exposure made with 
the star in position, the centre of the field would not have been 
illuminated at all; so that when seven-eighths of the total 
exposure had been given, a spring was touched, and the star 
dropped away from the lens altogether, the remaining eighth 
being given without it. For short exposures, the star was kept 
rotating by working the bulb ; for long ones, such as in the 
case of interiors, there was no need to do this, the star might 
just be moved round a little at regular intervals. The drawing 
obtained with the “ Hypergon ” lens seemed at first sight most 
unnatural, because of the extraordinary angle it included. This 
quite unfitted it for pictorial work ; but for ordinary record 
purposes, the lens could do what no other instrument would, 
and it was possible to get photographs with it in confined 
spaces where, before the advent of the “ Hypergon,” photo¬ 
graphy seemed to be impossible. For all that, it met no real 
want, and was little more than a curiosity. 

In the early editions of this book, the telephoto lens was 
treated as a thing apart, a piece of apparatus which called for 
special skill in its use, and which was employed only by a 
few who specialized in that form of work. Since then the 
lens has been simplified, or, to be more correct, the demand for 
a simple form has been realized and has been met, as it could 
have been before if lens-makers had been alive to the demand. 

The telephotographic lens consists of two parts, a “ positive ” 
lens, which may be almost any ordinary photographic lens 
such as we have previously con¬ 
sidered, and a “ negative ” lens, 
which is placed between the posi¬ 
tive lens and the plate. The 
“negative” lens is a diminishing 
glass, as the positive lens is a 
magnifying glass: the former is 
similar in kind to the spectacle 
used by a short-sighted person, 
the latter to the spectacle used by a long-sighted person. 
Two such spectacles in a tube, with the latter in front, form 
a telephotographic combination. 

For practical work, it is of course necessary that the lenses 



Fio. io.—A Telephoto Lens— 

THE “ TELECENTRIC.” 







78 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


should not take this form, but should consist each of two 
or more glasses, so as to be properly “ corrected ”; but the 
case we have imagined will serve to show the telephoto lens 
in outline. When a positive and a negative lens are used 
in this way, provided they are suitably adjusted to each other 
for the purpose, we shall have a lens which will give an image 
on the plate in the same way as any ordinary lens. The effect 
of using the negative lens is twofold : first, it gives a com¬ 
bination which is longer in focus than the positive lens by 
itself, and second, this combination although it may be long 
in focus does not need the plate to be so far from the lens 
as would be the case were we using a lens of equal focus but 
not of the telephoto type. The result is that in the telephoto 
lens we have an instrument which gives pictures on a large 
scale (the scale of pictures from the same standpoint being 
in proportion to the length of focus of the lenses with which they 
have been obtained) but which does not require a long exten¬ 
sion of the camera. This is very convenient, not only for 
photographing objects at a distance, but also for objects nearer 
at hand ; and it must not be supposed, as might naturally 
have been concluded from the name of the instrument, that 
it is essentially a lens for photographing things that are far 
away. Any other lens, if of the same focus, will photograph 
such things just as well as, if not better than, a telephoto lens : 
but it would require a camera of great extension, and therefore 
the other is the more convenient. 

There is another peculiarity about the telephoto lens which 
calls for mention ; and that is that by altering the separation 
of the positive and negative lenses, the focal length of the 
combination is altered : so that such a lens, if it is provided 
with a means of varying the separation, is no longer an instru¬ 
ment of definite focal length. (This is not, strictly speaking, 
a peculiarity of the telephoto lens, although the property is 
more marked in its case; most lenses of more than one glass 
have their focus altered by altering the separation ; but with 
one or two exceptions, it is only in the case of telephoto lenses 
that the property is marked enough to be made use of.) The 
consequence of this was that the early forms of telephoto lens, 
and some high-powered forms to-day, are made adjustable; 
and the photographer using them has a long or short focus 


THE SELECTION OF A LENS 


79 


lens at will. In expert hands this property was a valu¬ 
able one: but it had the curious effect of delaying the 
use of telephoto lenses by the general photographic 
public. Alteration of the separation meant alteration of 
the focus, alteration of the size of plate covered, and 
alteration of the F/- values of the stops. To the average 
camera user these were complications, often looked upon as 
prohibitive. 

It was when makers realized that there was a public waiting 
for a telephoto lens which should be as simple in use as any 
ordinary rectilinear or anastigmat, that the popularity of the 
type became manifest. Some of the earlier patterns needed a 
good deal of stopping down to secure critical definition ; but 
the “Telecentric ” of Ross showed that it was perfectly possible 
to obtain as fine definition with a telephoto lens at F/5’4 as with 
the ordinary anastigmat. The “ Telecentric ” is made in two 
rapidities, F/54. and F/6'8, and has a focal length equal to about 
twice the camera extension required. It is coming into in¬ 
creasing use as a hand-camera lens; but in the longer focus 
forms, a reflex camera is a necessity with it, as the large 
aperture makes it very necessary for the focussing to be carried 
out accurately. 

Such a lens as we have been describing is shown in 
Fig. 10. The glasses, seen in section on the right hand 
of the figure, form the positive lens, the other group 
being the negative. The separation being fixed, the focal 
length is fixed also, and so the iris diaphragm may be 
graduated with the F/- numbers and the lens used just like 
any other photographic lens. 

The high-powered telephoto lenses used by experts are 
generally constructed to employ some ordinary lens, such as an 
anastigmat, or when rapidity is important a portrait lens, which 
is screwed into a special fitting carrying a negative combination, 
and allowing the separation of the two to be varied. When 
used on very distant objects, it is often difficult to get sharp 
pictures with them, owing to fluctuations in the density ot 
the air, which cause the image to tremble. The haze or fog 
through which distant objects are generally seen, in consequence 
of the great thickness of dust or water-laden air through which 
they are viewed, also makes it difficult to get sufficient con- 


80 


TITE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


trast. Then, again, the extremely narrow angle included in 
such high-power pictures gives a form of perspective which, 
in its way, may make the picture look just as incorrect, but 
in the opposite direction, as a wide-angle picture. These are 
not peculiarities of telephoto work, strictly speaking, but are 
due to the fact that we are photographing very distant objects. 
They would be encountered just the same if they were being 
photographed with an ordinary lens. 

When telephoto lenses are used, owing to their long focus 
and large aperture, focussing, as just mentioned, has to be 
carried out very carefully. Owing to their construction, the 
optical centre of the lens does not lie within its mount, but 
in the air some distance in front of the lens; photography with 
them is therefore being conducted as it were at the end of a 
long lever, and the slightest movement of the shorter end—the 
lens—is greatly magnified on the plate. The apparatus there¬ 
fore must be rigid, and must be held steadily or supported 
firmly. 

The introduction of the telephotographic lens, if not its 
actual first invention, was due to the late T. R. Dallmeyer. He 
also introduced the “ Adon,” a simplified form of the lens, 
mainly used on hand-cameras and for small sizes. Another 
interesting telephoto lens of his construction is the “ Dallmeyer- 
Bergheim.” This last form is not corrected for colour, so that 
the definition obtained on the plate will not be the same as 
that seen on the focussing screen, unless, after focussing, the 
separation of lens and screen is altered to allow for this 

Certain partly corrected lenses, of which the Port-land is 
an example, have come into use of late years, especially in 
America. They do not give fine definition, but a peculiar 
softness, with a kind of duplication of the outline in those parts 
where there are very strong contrasts. They are employed by 
some pictorial workers ; but are, of course, unfitted for ordinary 
work from their inability to give a sharp picture. 



THE FORTH BR I D( 






CHAPTER VII 


THE LENS IN USE 

The portrait lens—Single lenses—Using half a doublet lens—“Convertible” 
anastigmats of two and three foci—Rectilinears—The value of stops—The 
importance of parallelism—Focussing from the back or front—Copying—Depth 
of focus—Selection of a stop—Focussing landscapes—Interiors—Focussing by 
scale—Copying to scale. 

T HE lens in use calls for an application of the principles which 
have been laid down in the preceding chapters. The 
distinguishing titles—“landscape” “portrait” “wide angle” 
and so on—are only indications of the purposes for which the 
instruments are best fitted, and must not be supposed to indicate 
that the lenses cannot be used indiscriminately by those who 
do not mind the drawbacks such use entails. A portrait lens 
is one which works at a very large aperture, F/4 usually. As 
this means that the clear diameter of its lenses is one-fourth the 
distance of the lens from the plate, an 8-inch lens must be 
at least 2 inches in internal diameter, and so on in proportion. 
The portrait lens is therefore bulky and heavy. Apart from 
that, it works at a very large aperture, and therefore unless 
stopped down it has little depth of focus; but stopped down it 
makes a capital landscape lens, and, except for its distortion, 
it could be used even for architecture and for copying. For 
amateur purposes, the typical portrait lens is almost out of 
fashion, as the increased rapidity of plates has made it possible 
to do portrait work with much smaller stops than F/4, and con¬ 
sequently to take large heads and similar work direct with 
lenses which are neither excessively heavy nor large and there¬ 
fore costly. 

The single lens, which in its most elaborate and perfect 
form is composed of three or four distinct glasses cemented 
together, and works well at F/n, is perhaps the best all-round 
g fci 


82 


TIIE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


instrument for its price that can be obtained ; but it is better 
to buy it in the form of a doublet, which may be either a rapid 
rectilinear if the pocket is limited, or an anastigmat if it can be 
afforded. Rectilinear lenses and most anastigmats can be used 
either as a whole, when they work at from F/4 to F/8, or F/11, 
according to design, construction, and angle included, or one 
half may be unscrewed and the other used by itself. In 
rectilinear lenses, which work as a whole at F/8, the foci of the 
two halves are generally approximately equal, though hardly 
ever exactly the same. At least the difference between them 
is not marked enough for them to be regarded as giving the 
photographer much choice between them. It is customary to 
unscrew the front lens and use the back one, and this is easily 
done without taking the lens out of the camera. Even if the 
front lens is that which is used by itself, it is better to put 
it between the stop and the plate than to leave it in its original 
position in front. 

Half the lens used in this way gives a picture on something 
less than twice as large a scale from the same standpoint, 
and this is often a great convenience. With “ wide-angle 
rectilinears ” there is usually a greater difference between the 
foci of the two halves ; but as this differs not only in different 
patterns, but even in individual lenses of the same pattern, the 
photographer will find it best to ascertain for himself whether 
the two are alike or not. 

Some anastigmats are constructed so that the single lenses 
are corrected to such an extent that it is difificult to detect any 
difference in quality between the single lens and the combina¬ 
tion of two, except as regards rapidity. If the single lenses are 
equal in focus, the combination may work at F/6 or thereabouts, 
all the single lenses working at F/12. If the lenses are of 
different focus, the combination is not quite so rapid, being 
slower the greater the difference between the lenses. Thus we 
may have a 9-inch single and a 14-inch single, both working at 
F/i2'5, the combination being one of 6J- inches, working at F/8. 
If instead we took two nj-inch lenses, the combination would 
have practically the same focus, but would work at F/6*3. The 
extra rapidity is worth having for some purposes, but unless 
hand-camera work is to be done, it would certainly be better 
economy to get the first pair, as it would give three lenses of 


THE LENS IN USE 


83 


9, 14, and 6^ inch respectively, rather than two, an 11J inch and 
a 6J inch. 

With such instruments, as with rapid rectilinears, straight 
lines in the original should be rendered as straight lines in the 
photograph when the double lens is used. With the single lens 
there will be a certain degree of distortion when such straight 
lines occur near the extreme edges of the plate. This is much 
less with the anastigmats than with the rectilinears, though 
with neither should it be noticeable unless looked for or the 
conditions are very trying. Such single lenses make excellent 
portrait lenses, when exposures can be long enough, and they 
will always cover at least as large a plate as the combination, 
generally one much larger. Thus the 9-inch lens just referred 
to might cover a plate x 5 inches, the 11J inch a whole 
plate, the 14 inch a 10 x 8, whereas either of the 6J inch com¬ 
binations might not be fitted for use on anything larger than a 
half-plate unless stopped down. 

Whether the lens be an anastigmat or a rectilinear, one 
thing must not be overlooked, and that is the alteration in the 
values of the stops and therefore in the exposures, when half 
the lens only is being used. If the focus of the single lens were 
exactly double that of the combination, all exposures with the 
former would require to be four times as long, since the stop of 
the combination marked F/8 would be F/i6with the single 
lens, F/11 would be F/22, and so on. Such an exact doubling 
can hardly ever be the case, and it will therefore be well to find 
out the values of the different stops for the single lens, if they 
are not already marked for it. With an iris diaphragm it is 
better to have it separately engraved for the single lens and for 
the double, making the distinction between the two scales quite 
unmistakable to prevent accidents. 

Whatever the lens be, its quality is quite wasted unless the 
camera front which bears it, and the camera back which carries 
the plate, are normally strictly parallel. This ought to be the 
case with every camera, unless of the most slopmade and shoddy 
construction ; but to make sure as far as possible that it is so, 
the camera should be opened out, fixed on the tripod, and its 
front made as strictly vertical as it is possible to get it, plumbing 
it with a thread and bullet. In doing this the lens should be in 
position, lest its weight should throw things out again. When 


84 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the front is plumbed, the back tested in the same way should 
also be plumb. The camera may then be laid on its side, 
and the front again carefully made vertical. Wedges will 
probably have to be used, unless the camera is one that is 
turned on its side to reverse the way of the plate, as it will 
not be possible to screw it to the tripod. The back is then 
again tested in its new position. 

To focus an object the camera is racked in and out In most 
landscape patterns the front carrying the lens is moved by the 
rack, the back also having a sliding movement; but in square 
bellows patterns the back often moves anH not the front The 
difference is not unimportant In landscape work, when the 
nearest objects are many times the focus of the lens away from 
the camera, the fact that when we rack the lens in or out we 
not only alter the distance between the lens and the plate, 
but also between the lens and the subject, does not make an 
appreciable difference. If we were copying or doing other work 
with the subject nearer to the camera, this alteration of the 
distance of the lens from the subject might be a great nuisance. 
For copying work, portraiture, etc., therefore, a camera which 
focusses by the movement of the back is to be preferred. Where 
the exact size of the image on the screen is not of verv great 
importance, focussing can often be carried out more accurately 
by using the rack for rough focussing and sliding the camera 
to and fro to secure the final focus. In such work it is often 
a help to use a focussing glass, a little magnifier, which is 
adjusted by pressing it on the ground glass and screwing the 
lens of the magnifier in or out until the ground surface of the 
glass is seen at its sharpest. The magnifier must not be altered 
afterwards, and must be pressed against the focussing screen 
when it is in use. 

Most of the defects which were dealt with in Chapter III. 
are remedied by the use of a small stop ; but the stop plays an 
important part in another direction. We have seen that there 
is with every lens a position for the ground glass in which the 
image of an object at a certain distance from the lens is sharp, 
and that as the distance of the object varies so the distance of 
the ground glass must be altered. It would seem then that it 
is not possible for two objects at different distances to be sharp 
at the same time. Strictly speaking, this is so; but as “sharpness” 


THE LENS IN USE 


85 


is a matter of degree, when one object is sharp another at a 
different distance will not be so sharp, but may still be well 
defined enough to appear equally sharp to our eyes. The more 
a lens is able to render near and distant objects equally sharp 
at the same time, the greater is said to be its “ depth of focus.” 
Unfortunately this most desirable quality is not a matter of 
design, but is dependent upon the focal length and the size of 
the stop. A salesman anxious to dispose of a lens will some¬ 
times claim for it that it possesses “ great depth of focus.” He 
means nothing by it; it is only an idle boast. Did he mean 
anything, it could only be that the lens would not work at so 
large an aperture as another with less depth of focus. And 
aperture, aperture , APERTURE is what the optician is ever striving 
for. Not to make a “ better” lens, but one as good that shall 
work at a larger aperture, is his constant aim. 

Large apertures in large lenses mean great lack of depth 
of focus. An example should make this plain. A lens of 
4j-inch focus working at F/8 will give us sharp images of 
objects at 11 feet and upwards to infinity. If we stop it down 
to F/i6, objects 5 feet 3 inches and upwards will be sharp. 
But if instead of our 4l-inch lens we have a 12-inch one and 
use it also at F/8, instead of getting everything sharp from 
11 feet upwards, the nearest object that we can get sharp at 
the same time as the distance will be 75 feet from the camera, 
or at F/i6—37 feet. Of course we can focus nearer objects by 
sacrificing the distance, but there will always be that wide 
disparity between the depth of focus of the lenses. This we 
must not forget is not a matter of the make of the lens, or the 
perfection of its design, but is a shortcoming of the ideally 
perfect lens, as much as, or even more than, of an inferior one. 
Because the worse the lens, the more likely is its want of depth 
to be lost sight of in its other imperfections. 

We stop down, therefore, to reduce as much as possible the 
faults of the lens, and also to get the depth of focus which 
the subject demands. Next in importance to the operation of 
focussing is the selection of the stop. Many workers, beginners 
especially, in their desire to secure the sharpest possible defini¬ 
tion, use much too small a stop. A good rule is to employ the 
largest aperture that will give the degree of sharpness required. 
The use of very small stops tends to make the negative flat and 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


.king in contrast, and deprives the picture of a certain propor¬ 
tion of its relief, due to the rendering of the different planes 
with different degrees of sharpness, which with a large opening 
may be effective, even when the degree of blurring is not great 
enough for it to be noticed at all. Absurdly small stops intro¬ 
duce diffraction phenomena, and so make the definition worse 
instead of better; while with certain types of lens a change in 
the size of the stop introduces a change in the focus, and it is 
therefore necessary to focus with the stop that is to be used to 
take the picture. This is just what the “ small stopper ” tries 
to avoid ; he does not like the responsibility of deciding by the 
eye alone whether the stop is small enough. Yet this ought 
always to be done, and the photographer should satisfy himself 
not only that his picture is as sharp as he wants it to be, but 
also that he is using the largest stop that will make it so. 

Landscape subjects and architectural exteriors are the easiest 
to focus. Portraits are more difficult, and need watching to see 
that nothing which in the dark corners of the focussing screen 
is overlooked, will be offensively blurry in the brilliant print. 
Interiors are hardest of all, because, as a rule, they are so poorly 
lit that the importance of keeping the exposure short cannot be 
passed by, while the great difference in the relative distances of 
the different parts calls for careful focussing with the actual 
stop used. 

Focussing by scale is considered in the hand-camera chapter, 
but with stand-cameras there is one form of scale which may 
be adopted. The usual lens being put in place, a distant 
object such as a lamp 300 or 400 yards away, should be 
sharply focussed with the open aperture, and the position of 
the moving part of the camera, front or back as the case may 
be, is marked with the blade of a knife and a little soot or 
other black rubbed in to make the cut easily visible. It is 
at times a convenience to be able to open out the camera to 
“ infinity ” without looking on the screen ; and if we want a 
case in point we might take that of a heavy thunderstorm at 
night. The photographer suddenly realizes that he has a 
magnificent opportunity of getting some lightning photographs, 
he extends his camera to the mark, as we have described, he 
cannot focus, there is nothing on which to focus, he puts in 
a plate, uncaps the lens, and points it to the quarter of the sky 


THE LENS IN USE 


87 


In which there seems the best chance of a flash. After one or 
two have taken place, the plate is changed, and the operation 
repeated as long as the supply of patience, plates, or lightning 
holds out. 

A scale on the base board is also very useful when copying 
to some exact proportion has to be done. Without it the task 
becomes a very irritating one, because every alteration in the 
focus to get the subject sharp alters its size. When it is the 
right size it is not sharp,—we carefully focus it only to find that 
in doing so we have altered the dimension of the image ; we get 
this right, and then the picture is no longer sharp, and so it goes 
on. By marking the camera extension on the base board, once 
for all, for the usual copying lens, for images of different propor¬ 
tions to the original, all we have to do is to open out the camera 
to the right mark and clamp it there, and then to focus by 
altering the distance between the camera and the subject. 


CHAPTER VIII 


PLATES AND FILMS 


Glass v. Celluloid—Paper for negative work—Commercial plates, British and 
Foreign—Different kinds of the same make—High rapidity—Orthochromatic 
plates—Halation, its cause—Prevention—The manufacture of caramel—Develop" 
ment and halation—All halation not a defect. 

HE ideal support for the sensitive coating which we expose 



JL in the camera is still in the future. Glass has many 
advantages ; the ease with which it can be obtained smooth 
enough for the purpose, its cheapness, its inert behaviour in the 
different solutions used by the photographer, and its trans¬ 
parency. This last quality it does not possess to the extent 
many people imagine, and even to the eye clean glass cuts off 
much light, while to the photographic plate, which is sensitive 
to light the eye cannot appreciate, it cuts off a great deal more. 
On the other side of the account we have the rigidity of glass, 
an advantage or disadvantage according to circumstances ; we 
have its brittleness, a decided drawback, its weight, and its 
thickness. This last is the prime cause of that bugbear of the 
photographer—halation. 

The only serious rival which glass has at the present time is 
celluloid. This can be obtained clear enough for all ordinary 
photographic purposes, very thin, flexible, practically unbreak¬ 
able, light; but until recently it was more expensive. Now 
the price of plates and films is very much the same: in some 
large sizes cut films are even cheaper than glass plates of 
the same size. Celluloid film enjoys a very wide popularity 
amongst amateurs, as its good qualities are particularly in 
evidence when work is to be done away from home. The 
roll film with its facilities for daylight loading and daylight 
developing makes photography facile to a degree. The film 

takes up little room, is light, and travels safely by post. 

88 



BY J. CROISDALE COULTAS 































































































































PLATES AND FILMS 


89 


It is a curious but well-attested fact, that it has not 
hitherto been possible to make roll films as rapid as plates. 
The same emulsion spread on glass and on celluloid is 
markedly more rapid in the former case. Moreover, volatile 
substances enter into the composition of celluloid, and though 
the precise nature of the action is not understood, celluloid 
films will not keep so well as plates, especially under trying 
climatic conditions. Celluloid also is highly electrical, and 
when circumstances are favourable, it may be caused to spark 
in such a way as to affect the sensitive coating on it. Rapid 
rolling or rubbing is most likely to bring this about, and in 
manufacture it has caused a great deal of trouble, especially 
in the early days of the industry. We hear of sparks a foot 
in length flashing about the coating-room as the film was 
stripped from the tables, where it must have acted like a great 
electrophorous. But forewarned is forearmed, and by handling 
roll film with reasonable gentleness, there should be no trouble 
from such a cause. Its inflammability is not so great as that 
of bare celluloid, the non-curling film, which has a coat of gela¬ 
tine on both sides of it, being to some extent fireproofed 
thereby, although it will burn if a little trouble is taken to 
light it. Celluloid is not so inert as glass, and certain solutions 
which would not affect the latter, must on no account be applied 
to a film. Thus it is not practicable to dry celluloid film in a 
hurry by means of spirit; though this is the only case that 
need be mentioned. Celluloid films in large sizes need certain 
precautions to keep them flat, and even in postcard size a flat 
field lens, working at a large aperture and sharply focussed, 
would hardly be likely to give such crisp definition all over a 
film as it would on a glass plate. The inferiority would only 
just begin to be perceptible in this size, and in anything smaller 
it need not be taken into consideration. 

While glass and celluloid divide between them the honours 
of the situation, they are not entirely alone. Paper, especially 
in large sizes, has its advocates. Some workers make their 
enlarged negatives on ordinary bromide paper, while others have 
used this for outdoor work with the camera. The sensitive 
coating on ordinary bromide paper, however, is kept thin to 
suit the paper to its true purpose—printing and enlargement. 
When it is used for negative making, this thinness means that 


90 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the exposure must be exact if the negative is to be a good one. 
Some makers of bromide paper, therefore, have put a special 
“ negative paper ” on the market, which is essentially a bromide 
paper with a thicker coating of emulsion than usual. The 
cheapness and lightness of paper make it attractive to land¬ 
scape photographers who w r ork large sizes direct. The grain 
of the paper itself shows slightly in a print on a smooth sur¬ 
face ; but in carbon or rough platinum it is not noticeable. The 
paper slows printing considerably—four or five times at least— 
unless it is waxed ; but it is better not to wax it, as there is 
always a chance that it may take the wax irregularly and in 
spots. The best material for the purpose is a mixture of one 
part of Canada balsam and five parts of turpentine. This is 
rubbed into the paper with a small sponge, and the negative is 
then hung up for the turpentine to evaporate. One advantage 
of a paper negative is the ease with which one can work upon 
its back with pencil, stump, and brush; against this may be 
set the ease with which the paper will absorb noxious solutions 
and stain, when celluloid or glass would allow them, literally, 
to run “like water off a duck’s back.” 

A material, which is now no longer available, but which 
was very greatly appreciated by some workers, was known 
as “ Cristoid ” film. In this, the support itself was of gelatine. 
The feature of the film, which was very valuable for certain 
purposes, was that it was double—in some cases treble—coated. 
The slowest emulsion was coated first, and then a faster 
emulsion on the top of that. Such an arrangement gives 
enormous latitude. No double-coated plates are now on the 
market; but we understand that they are occasionally made 
by at least one maker for his own use, and his more favoured 
friends are allowed a supply. No doubt, if anything like a 
general demand were made for them, they would be com¬ 
mercially obtainable. 

Enough has surely been said to enable the reader to 
balance the pros and cons of films, plates, and papers. The 
author’s own practice is to use plates exclusively for work 
at home, or where their weight is not prohibitive. As his 
photographic touring is limited to a few weeks in the year, 
he uses plates then, in spite of the difficulties of carrying about 
a supply. Films are used in a folding-camera on journeys 


PLATES AND FILMS 


91 


when photography is not the raison d'etre , the compactness 
and portability of the outfit preventing it from being a serious 
addition to the luggage. Any one who uses the camera for 
travel purposes exclusively, would find the advantages of roll 
film almost irresistible. For professional photography, and for 
amateur work at home, the rigidity and perfection of glass, to 
say nothing of its economy, offer overwhelming advantages 
to those whose apparatus will admit of its employment. 

At the present time there are many plates on the market; 
amongst which the photographer can choose for himself, with 
little fear of making a bad selection. If the number of good 
plate makers is legion, the number of kinds of plates is at 
least half a dozen times as great, for every maker has several 
brands. One, usually at a higher price, is the fastest of all, 
and this is the plate which should always be used for hand- 
camera work. This is not to say that no other plate is 
possible ; but that, as the conditions cannot be foreseen, it 
is good policy to be prepared for the most unfavourable. In 
the early days of gelatine plates, fast plates were much more 
difficult to develop than slow ones; they were sometimes only 
the slow ones fogged to make them seem fast, although this 
deception was quite an unconscious one on the part of the 
plate-maker. That reproach is now entirely removed ; and, 
except that there is more risk of fogging them by undue 
exposure to the light of the dark room, the fastest plates of 
all are as easy to develop as those of ordinary rapidity. Sir 
William Abney, who has photographed a great deal in 
Switzerland, recommends very fast plates for use there, on 
the ground that they yield a softer and more harmonious 
negative of subjects in which the contrasts are excessive, as 
is the case with Swiss landscapes. For portrait work the 
fastest possible plate should be used, because the lighting 
is often none too great, and it is always well to keep the 
actual duration of the exposure as short as possible, in the 
interests of the sitters themselves. Moreover, a portrait nega¬ 
tive must on no account err on the side of excessive density, 
and this is less likely to occur with a fast than with a slow 
plate. Most photographers, who turn to portraiture from land¬ 
scape, get their negatives too strong at first. The special 
plates made for portrait purposes are not different from others 


92 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


in any respect except in the character of the gradation which 
they give, this usually being softer in the portrait plate. 

Very rapid plates are not to be recommended except when 
their speed is a necessity. Slower plates have a more opaque 
film, an advantage referred to again later on, and they possess 
a greater “ range/' That is to say, assuming with a slow plate 
that an exposure of two seconds is the shortest that will give 
a correct negative, eight or even sixteen times that exposure 
may still give a correct negative, as will be considered when 
we come to discuss exposure. On the other hand, with a very 
fast plate, if two seconds is the shortest correct exposure, four 
times that is probably the greatest exposure that would also 
be correct, anything more giving rise to signs of over-exposure 
in the negative. For landscape and outdoor photography in 
general, when a stand camera is used, a plate of ordinary 
rapidity is all that is required. For interiors the slow plate 
is often an advantage in spite of the increased length of ex¬ 
posure, because of its greater range and thicker coating. 

It is in this direction that double- or treble-coated plates 
and films possess such an advantage. The layers of emulsion 
do not separate, and the finished negative shows no sign of 
them, but the light which passes through the rapid emulsion on 
the top does not merely pass out of the plate, but some of it is 
absorbed and utilized in the layers beneath. Hence such plates 
have a range which no single layer of emulsion can approach. 

The question whether or not he should use orthochromatic 
plates is one which the photographer must settle for himself, 
according to the character of the work which he proposes to do. 
Theoretically, no doubt, in almost every case, they are superior 
to ordinary plates; in practice, this superiority is often quite 
incapable of detection. This is dealt with at length in the 
chapter on orthochromatic work. 

When a photograph is taken of some subject in which there 
are great extremes of light and shade, such as an interior with 
a brightly lit window which appears in the picture, a defect 
often makes its appearance in the form of light in the print, 
all round the bright object. There is a certain glare in the 
subject itself, caused by the illuminated air—or rather the 
illuminated dust in the air; but the photograph may show a 
great deal more than exists in Nature. The cause of this can 


PLATES AND FILMS 


93 


be understood from Fig. 11, which represents, very much magni¬ 
fied, a section through such a negative. A is the glass plate, 
and B the film on its surface. A ray of light, C, coming from 
the lens falls on the sensitive film at K, and some of it is 
absorbed. But a plate is not perfectly opaque, as we know, and 
some of the light passes through it to the glass, A. The top 
surface of the glass will reflect some of this light, as shown 
by D, the bottom surface will also reflect some, E, and the rest 
will pass out at the back of the plate towards F. The thicker 
and more opaque the coating B on the plate, the less light will 
get through it. Some of the light from C, on entering the 
film, will also be scattered in all directions by the particles of 
silver bromide, as shown by the finer lines G, G. It will be 
noticed at once that the reflected 
ray E reaches the film in a spot, 

H, some distance from K, that 
at which C struck it, and there¬ 
fore while the true image is 
formed at K there will be a 
certain quantity of light-action 
at G and H also. As a matter 
of fact, light will be reaching the 
film all the way from K to H, 
owing to reflection and scatter¬ 
ing ; but the diagram has been kept simple for the sake of 
clearness. 

A little consideration shows that as B is extremely thin, the 
reflected ray D will lie close to K while it is in the film, and 
so will not give rise to any serious spreading of the image. In 
the same way, little trouble is likely to arise from G, G, G. 
These are the only causes of halation in celluloid films, and 
consequently the defect is almost unknown with such materials. 
But with glass plates the case is different. The back surface of 
the glass at L is highly reflective, and, owing to the thickness 
of the glass, H is often at some distance from K, and the light 
reaching H causes a distinct fogging of the film there, and 
therefore in the print causes the glare which is only too familiar 
to photographers. 

There are two methods by which halation can be attacked, 
and if both are invariably employed, it will entirely cease from 








94 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


troubling. The first is by means of “backing.” This is a pre¬ 
paration which is spread on the back of the plate at L, by 
which its power of reflecting light is destroyed The action of 
backing is one which is more often misunderstood than almost 
any other photographic process. Many people suppose that 
any opaque substance spread upon the glass at L will answer 
the purpose. This is a complete mistake. Most of such sub¬ 
stances will merely absorb the light which is passing away to 
F. But this light, if the plate is in a darkslide that is properly 
blackened inside, is already harmless, and whether it is absorbed 
by a coating on the plate or by the darkslide is quite immaterial. 
Black paper gummed to the glass, or black velvet laid against 
it, are some of the devices to prevent halation, which have been 
suggested from time to time by some who did not understand 
the nature of the problem. They are useless for the purpose. 
It must be remembered that the light which does the mischief 
at H never gets outside the glass A at all, and anything that is 
to attack it must do so from within, as it were. This is not so 
impossible as it seems at first sight. We can apply to the 
glass at L something which, by being almost identical optically 
with the glass itself, causes L to cease to exist as a reflective 
surface. To do this, the substance applied must have the same 
“ refractive index ” as glass, or as nearly the same as possible, 
and it must be applied in “ optical contact” with the glass. It 
will then stop reflection from L, the light which would be 
reflected passing into the substance, whatever it is, where it 
must be absorbed if it is to be rendered harmless. There is 
one material which seems better fitted for backing than any 
other, and that is caramel. It is the basis of most of the 
preparations on the market, and is most efficient. Backing 
may be applied with a sponge, a brush, or a dabber made by 
tying up a tuft of cotton-wool in a piece of cambric. A little 
piece of artificial (rubber) sponge makes an excellent tool for 
the purpose. If many plates are to be coated a backing frame 
is convenient. It is easily made of card or wood, and is simply 
a board with a ledge just a trifle smaller than the plate, and on 
this ledge another into which the plate fits. The plate is sup¬ 
ported in such a frame, face downwards, and except at the 
extreme edges its face is not in contact with anything, and 
therefore cannot be damaged. The backing is rubbed on, and 


PLATES AND FILMS 


95 


B - •• 

H 



the plate placed in a rack for it to dry in the dark. If the 
plate has to be put into the camera at once, a piece of tissue- 
paper may be placed on the backing and rubbed into contact 
all over. A thick coating of backing is quite unnecessary, nor 
need it be even in thickness provided it goes all over the plate. 
The best workers use no plates, whether for direct negative 
work, for slide making, or for enlarged negatives, that have not 
first been backed. 

There is still the second method of the prevention of 
halation, which is by suitable development. In the diagram 
which follows, Fig. 12, we have supposed the plate shown in 
Fig. 11 to have been fully developed, and the image in its 
magnified film is shown by the shading. The letters are the 
same in both, but the course of the rays of light is not marked 
by lines, being unnecessary. It 
will be seen at once that the hala¬ 
tion at G and H starts from the 

glass and works up into the film, _ l_ 

while the true image at K starts at fig. 12. 

the surface and diminishes down¬ 
wards. Hence, if we could plane off the under part of the 
film, say all below the dotted line, we could get rid of the 
halation almost entirely. These are not suppositions. Sections 
of films have been cut and examined in the microscope and the 
positions of the direct and halation images actually seen. More¬ 
over it is possible, if not to plane off all below the dotted line, 
at least to keep the image mostly above it. This is done in 
exposure and development. The longer the exposure the more 
the image at H approaches the surface of the film, and the 
more the image at K extends down towards the glass. Over¬ 
exposure, therefore, tends to increase halation. Prolonged 
development also, by giving the developer time to diffuse down 
and act energetically on the glass side of the plate also helps to 
make halation more apparent. Hence developers which con¬ 
tain bromide to any extent give halation when otherwise it 
might be absent; while under-exposure, by inducing the photo¬ 
grapher to go on developing in the futile hope of “bringing out 
detail,” is as efficient a cause of halation as anything can be. 

If a subject is likely to give rise to halation, therefore, we 
can prevent it from being troublesome— 









96 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


1. By using a thickly coated plate—slow plates, as a rule, 
are more opaque than fast ones, and therefore appear more 
thickly coated, and actually are less liable to halation in 
consequence. 

2. By using a properly backed plate. 

3. By exposing correctly and developing without any 
restrainer. 

A photograph taken under these conditions, however try¬ 
ing the subject, should show no more halation than is visible to 
the eye. 


FRANK BRANGWYN 

BY ALVIN LANGDON COBURN 















CHAPTER IX 


THE DARK ROOM 

T1 ic dark room should be a room, but not dark—Necessity for occasional daylight— 
Illumination—Light filters—Coloured glass—A “ liquid lamp ”—Light for 
different purposes—For orthochromatic plates—Fabrics—Testing the light—The 
sink and water supply—Splash preventers—Shelves—Dishes, porcelain or other* 
wise—For large work—Measures and scales—A light-tight drawer. 


I T is possible, by using roll-film and a developing machine, 
to dispense entirely with the dark room, but this is to 
impose very narrow limits upon the photographer, and a 
majority of those who use such appliances have probably 
some form of dark room. In a great many cases it is a place 
of such a character that good work becomes almost an 
impossibility. Narrow, cramped, ill lit, and worse ventilated, 
it is a prison from which the perspiring captive emerges with 
a sigh of relief, instead of the clean, comfortable, and (com¬ 
paratively) brilliant room, which it might be. The idea that 
any little corner will do, provided it is dark, is responsible for 
much of the discomfort of the average room ; and the truth 
is not realized, that it is better to turn an ordinary room into 
a temporary dark room when required, than to have a chamber 
from which all daylight is permanently excluded. Not only 
is a room which is never entered by daylight distinctly 
unhealthy, but it is almost certain that it will not be kept 
so clean, as if its dust and dirt revealed themselves under the 
searching influence of the sun. And dirt, using the term in 
its widest sense, is the greatest foe the photographer has to 
encounter. 

Dirt in the camera, dust in the slides, chemical dust floating 
in the air of the dark room, invisible but by no means imper¬ 
ceptible dirt in dishes and measures, all lie in wait for him, 
and all make their presence felt by defects, whose precise 
H 97 


98 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


cause it may be difficult or impossible to trace. It is only 
when we deal with so exquisitely sensitive a thing as a plate, 
that we realize the true meaning of cleanliness. Let a spirit- 
lamp be burning with an almost invisible blue flame, and tap 
the table sharply. It starts into a yellow light for an instant, 
and the spectroscope tells us that we have jerked into the 
flame some of the ever-present dust containing sodium. The 
plate is not quite so sensitive as this, and sodium salts are 
not its worst foes ; but few dark rooms are free from other 
chemicals in the form of dust, and one of the most prevalent, 
as it is the most deadly in its effects, is hypo. This salt, at 
once the photographer's best friend and worst enemy, has a 
most searching character, especially in solution. It is hardly 
too much to say that it is impossible to remove all the hypo 
from a porcelain dish in which a fixing solution has been left 
for four and twenty hours. At least it is only possible to 
do so by devices to which the photographer is not likely to 
resort. For this reason, porcelain dishes used for hypo should 
be used for nothing else. It may not affect the solutions 
generally employed for development, but a trace of it will 
put a gold tonkig bath out of action in a very little time. 

If dust is a foe to the plate user, it is still more so to 
the plate maker, and we therefore see that plate factories are 
established in the country to get away as much as possible 
from the smoke-laden air of the towns. In the olden times, 
when photographers had to make their own plates, there was 
one process, the albumen, which was used for transparency 
making. It was said to be so sensitive to dust, that enthu¬ 
siastic slide makers used to remove their garments, rub them¬ 
selves all over with glycerine as if they were Grecian athletes, 
and grapple with the process in nature’s garb alone. How 
far this is true, or whether it is one of those myths from 
which no early history is quite free, there is now no telling. 
Let us be thankful, especially in winter time, that the 
exigencies of modern methods are less exacting. 

The power of flooding the dark room with daylight, then, 
is worth keeping as a guarantee against dirt. It should be 
roomy, to prevent semi-suffocation. The author has long 
held to the belief that no dark room at all is better than a 
small, ill-ventilated cupboard. As a rule, it is not difficult to 


THE DARK ROOM 


99 


provide a frame covered with some light, opaque material, by 
which, without much exertion, a window can be blocked up 
when required. By limiting dark-room work to the evenings, 
even this may not be necessary. Moonlight shining into a 
room does no harm provided plates are not directly exposed 
to its rays. A water supply and a sink are the two most 
essential fittings, but even these can be extemporized. If 
much work is to be done, however, they must be provided. 

It is difficult to lay down rules for fitting up a dark room, 
as the conditions of different cases are widely different; but a 
few general principles may be given. If the dark room is 
a large one, and electric light is used, there is not so great 
a need for special ventilating arrangements to act when the 
room is darkened ; a fireplace and chimney will do most that 
is required. But small rooms lit by gas should have their 
ventilation looked after most particularly, or the photographer 
will suffer. There is a form of headache which many people 
think is brought on by working in the red light ; it used to 
be attributed to the ammonia that was used for developing. 
Its real source is to be found, there can be no doubt, in a 
lack of sufficient pure air in the dark room. Many otherwise 
efficient ventilating systems are rendered almost useless by 
the light trap. Air should pass through the ventilator, but 
no light. Air can turn round corners and light cannot ; 
therefore, a few corners in the ventilator are sufficient to pre¬ 
vent light from entering. But if air can turn corners, it requires 
a certain pressure to make it do so, and every corner tends 
to obstruct the passage, even for air. A light trap, therefore, 
if placed in a passage otherwise the right size, should be an 
expansion of that passage; or the fact that an opening is 
light trapped should be a reason for making it bigger than 
would otherwise be necessary. However well ventilated, in 
every good dark room it should be possible to fling open the 
windows and let in fresh air and daylight with no trouble 
at all. 

The illumination of the dark room must depend necessarily 
on the work to be done in it. The red lamps at present on 
the market are, almost without exception, too small; and are 
suitable only for temporary dark rooms and makeshifts. The 
user has to pore over his dish close to the lamp, or else work 


100 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


in semi-darkness, which is most injurious to his eyes, and is 
demanded by very few plates. Moreover, the limited quantity 
of light makes it impossible to find anything not quite at hand, 
and is responsible for measures and bottles being knocked 
over and broken. Where electric light is available, an efficient 
and safe light is a very simple matter. Stained incandescent 
lamps are not satisfactory and should on no account be used. 
The heat of the lamp soon affects the coating, and its light 
causes the dye to fade, and the lamp becomes a danger. One 
of the circular glass jars which one sees in the windows of 
sweet-stuff shops forms as good an electric dark-room lamp 
as can be wished. The bottom and about an inch above it 
are made opaque by being covered with black paper or book¬ 
binder’s cloth, and a cardboard lid, with an edge about an 
inch deep, is also fitted. Through the centre of this lid passes 
the flexible wire from which is suspended the incandescent 
lamp. The exterior surface of the jar may be covered with 
any selected flexible coloured medium, which may be provided 
so as to slip on and off, or be fixed in position. Or the jar 
may receive a coating of coloured varnish. Or a liquid lamp 
can be used as described subsequently. 

Let us consider for a moment what the problem of dark¬ 
room illumination presents to us. Plates, even non-orthochro- 
matic, are sensitive to light of every colour that is perceptible 
to the eye, and very sensitive to “ ultra-violet ” light also, of 
which the eye is hardly conscious. We must not forget that 
even a “safe” red light will fog any plate in time. The light 
to which non-orthochromatic plates are least sensitive is deep 
pure red. Crimson often contains “ ultra-violet,” and may be 
most unsafe in consequence. To yellow light plates are a little 
more sensitive, to green they are a little less sensitive again, 
while by blue and violet they are immediately affected. Green, 
yellow, and red, therefore, are the three colours amongst which 
our choice may be made. Red, considered solely from the point 
of view of the plate, is safest, but the least luminous to the eye. 
Orange, which may be regarded as a mixture of green, yellow, 
and red, is in consequence favoured by many people. The 
trouble about orange is that it is certainly not safe for the 
orthochromatic plates and films which are now coming into 
general use, and so far as the author is aware, there is not on 


THE DARK ROOM 


101 


the market any orange-light filter which has been worked out 
for the purpose of dark-room illumination, so as to give a light 
at once as bright and as safe as possible. This is not the case 
with red, and there are several forms of light filter of this colour, 
which have been fitted to the work they are required to per¬ 
form, and not selected haphazard. They are carefully adjusted 
to give the greatest quantity of light that is consistent with 
safety, and being made in several forms can be selected for the 
various requirements of the photographer. 

The writer’s own dark room is one in which such type 
as that on this page can be read quite comfortably, in any 
part of the room, although at the same time the fastest non- 
orthochromatic plates can be developed without fog, in a 
dish left uncovered for at least a minute. The main light 
consists of two large glass beakers, fitting one inside the other 
with a space of about a quarter of an inch all round between 
them. The two are cemented together at the bottom with 
cobbler’s wax. The inner beaker contains a 32-c.p. metallic 
filament electric light; and the space between the two is 
occupied by a solution of three ounces of potassium bichromate 
and one dram of eosin in a quart of water. Hot water is used 
to make the solution, and the mixture is carefully filtered when 
cold. This lamp gives a brilliant red light, and stands on a 
little wooden shelf eight feet from the floor, so placed that 
the shelf prevents any direct light from the lamp shining on 
the developing bench. The room is papered in white, so 
that as much as possible of the red light is reflected. If the 
density of a plate is to be judged by looking through it, a 
second lamp with a deep red “ safe-light ” and a 16-c.p. metallic 
filament lamp at one end of the work-bench is also used ; 
but this is not needed for any other purpose, as the top light 
is ample. For bromide paper work the lower lamp is also 
used, the deep red “safe-light” being replaced by a bright 
yellow. It will give some idea of the strength of the light 
given by the liquid lamp, when it is mentioned that when 
enlarging on the opposite side of the room, with a lantern, 
the red light has to be switched off in order to make the room 
dark enough to focus properly. Red sensitive or panchromatic 
plates are best developed by time in complete darkness ; 
orthochromatic plates of other kinds can be developed in the 


102 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


room with the liquid lamp, all that is needed being a little 
more care in keeping the dish covered over except just when 
it is necessary to see the plate. In any case it should be 
made a rule never to expose the plate to the direct light from 
the lamp unless for the express purpose of examining it. 
Thirty seconds in all should be quite long enough exposure 
during the development of a negative. 

So far nothing has been said about coloured glass for dark* 
room illumination. As a matter of fact, though it is widely 
used, it is not to be recommended. The ruby glass is 
“flashed,” that is to say a thin film of red glass covers one side 
of a sheet of white glass. The colour is a good one for ordinary 
plates, but nearly all orthochromatic plates are distinctly sensi¬ 
tive to the light transmitted by ruby glass. In addition to this, 
pinholes in the ruby coating are not at all uncommon, and 
while they may not be visible to the eye, they help to make 
the light unsafe. Some ruby glass lets through a considerable 
proportion of ultra-violet light, and is most unsafe in conse¬ 
quence. Yellow glass, as such, does not exist. The yellow 
glass on sale is not yellow but brown, as can be seen by putting 
a piece of it down on a sheet of white paper. It is therefore 
darker than it need be, without being any the safer. It is 
“pot” glass, that is to say the yellow colour is not in a thin 
layer, but extends right through the glass. It is therefore not 
subject to pinholes. If glass is used in a lantern, a sheet of 
yellow and a sheet of ruby make a reasonably safe combination, 
though not a very light one. The yellow does not make the 
ruby seem much darker, but it makes the light distinctly safer. 
If the “ safe-light ” or glass is transparent, the lighting of 
the dark room is made much more pleasant by the use of 
a sheet of ground glass. This diffuses the light and throws 
it into corners otherwise quite dark, while it lessens at the 
same time the strength of the direct rays. 

There are various fabrics on the market for dark-room 
illumination. Of these ruby and canary medium are well 
known. They are a stout woven material prepared with some 
coloured coating which makes them fairly safe when two or 
three thicknesses are used. (One thickness is never safe, on 
account of pinholes, which are quite unavoidable.) As they are 
comparatively cheap, they are often used to block up windows, 


THE DARK ROOM 


103 


so as not to exclude all the light, and for this purpose they are 
well fitted. The author some years ago did a great deal of 
developing in a little dark room partitioned off an ordinary room. 
It was a light wooden frame, covered entirely to within 2 feet 8 
inches of the ground with one layer of ruby and one of canary 
fabric, the doorway being closed with a curtain. A paraffin lamp 
stood on a table outside, and the light within was very pleasant 
and uniform, though not very strong. Another material often 
employed is known as “ Ruby Christia.” This is made both in 
paper and fabric, and can be used for the same purposes as the 
ruby and canary medium. Its colour is, if anything, better. 
The paper is an excellent material for tourists, as it takes up 
no room, and may be tied round an incandescent electric 
lamp like a bag, and held with an elastic band, thus providing 
a safe light for plate changing. Two thicknesses of it, shut 
into the porthole, will turn a cabin into a temporary dark 
room in the same way. For ordinary dark-room illumination, 
however, neither paper nor fabrics are altogether suitable, 
as they stop a good deal of the safe light as well as of the 
unsafe. They distribute the light over the dark room in 
a more pleasant manner, however; as is done also by ground 
glass. 

Two kinds of light are ample for most purposes: a yellow 
for bromide and lantern-slide work, which would also be 
suitable for wet collodion, were it ever to be used, which is not 
likely; and a red for plates, which by being screened or by 
having the light turned down, may be made safe enough if 
orthochromatic plates are used occasionally. If they are con¬ 
stantly employed, the light should be a deeper red than other¬ 
wise. Brown and green have at times been suggested for the 
dark room, but they have never become popular, and to-day 
are scarcely used at all. Certainly they are not to be recom¬ 
mended, except for panchromatic plates. 

When arranging for the lighting of a dark room, the light 
itself before screening should be as strong as possible. Many 
fail to recognize the difference between a strong light properly 
screened, and a feeble light with a weaker screen. Of course 
any light may be used if it is weak enough, and the author has 
changed the most sensitive plates, without the slightest trace 
of fog, in rooms in which there was light enough to see 


104 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


everything distinctly after a minute or two. But this is not 
what is wanted. The larger the area of light screen and the 
more powerful the light, the better. In this way we can in¬ 
crease the visible light almost indefinitely, without making it 
unsafe for ordinary plates. No one who has ever worked in a 
properly lit dark room would ever consent to go back to the 
gloomy shades of the poor little oil lamp in an ill-ventilated 
lantern, screened by a few square inches of unsuitable ruby 
glass. 

It is only necessary to add, that no one should use a light 
for more than the most temporary purposes without testing it. 
This is easily done by putting a plate in a dark slide, placing 
this where the plate is likely to be exposed to the light of the 
dark room, and leaving it there, with the shutter drawn half 
way out, for as long a time as it is likely the plate will ever be 
exposed to the dark-room illumination. The plate is then to 
be developed in the usual manner, fixed, washed, and dried. If 
on placing it down on a sheet of white paper there is a distinct 
difference between the exposed and the unexposed half, the 
light is not safe, and it must either be used at a greater 
distance or the light filter must be changed. The commonest 
defect of all, in everyday work, is a fogged negative. The 
commonest cause is unsafe light in the dark room, or undue 
exposure to it. Yet the simple experiment of testing the 
dark-room light is performed—how often ? 

After the light and the ventilation, the most important 
features of the dark room are the sink and water supply. 
Although some of the chemicals used in photography attack 
lead, a lead-lined sink, when everything is taken into considera¬ 
tion, is the best. Earthenware sinks are most costly, especially 
in big sizes, are heavy, and mean that every glass or porcelain 
article allowed to fall in the sink is to a certainty smashed. 
With lead this very seldom happens. And the most careful 
will knock over a bottle or measure now and then. The bench 
beside the sink, if the latter is lead lined, may be lead covered 
too, and provided with a fillet on its outer edge over which the 
lead is carried, while at the back the lead is turned up the wall 
for 3 or 4 inches. The bench is then easily cleaned down 
with a squeegee, a thing that should be done every time 
it is used. 



PATIENCE 


BY HUGH CECIL 










THE DARK ROOM 


105 


The water tap is best fitted with a “ splash preventer,” by 
means of which it will give a smooth stream. It should be 
15 inches above the bottom of the sink, so that the largest 
bottles can be filled at it, but it need not be higher than this. 
There are swing arm taps fitted with a rose and a bottle-filling 
jet, but the ordinary tap with a splash preventer answers 
every purpose. Two taps are better than one, and best about 
8 inches apart. A negative can be placed under one of 
them to wash, while the other can be used in the ordinary 
work. A piece of clean linen or muslin about 3 inches wide 
and a foot or two in length, if wound round the nozzle of 
the tap so as to prolong it for a couple of inches, and fastened 
in place with a rubber band, forms a simple splash preventer, 
and turns the most violent rush into a gentle stream. In 
places where there is a system of heating by means of hot- 
water pipes, particular care must be used to see that the 
dark-room water-supply pipe is not brought alongside a pipe 
carrying hot water, or unexpected troubles may arise. Such 
a state of things is by no means uncommon, and has often 
been the cause of frilling and blistering of plates and papers, 
that seemed most mysterious until the reason for it was 
detected. 

A few shelves for bottles, or better still a cupboard, a rack 
for dishes, a rail for dusters and towels, and a draining rack for 
negatives complete the list of indispensable dark-room fittings. 
Most plate-draining racks have too many grooves ; they should 
be at least ij inches apart, or the plates will take a long 
time to dry, and disfiguring drying marks may be expected. 
Where one size of plate only is used, the hypo bath may be a 
grooved porcelain tank, as this takes up little room and the 
plates fix very quickly in a vertical position. The best dishes 
are undoubtedly granitine or porcelain ; because the material 
of which they are made makes them easy to clean, and their 
colour makes dirt conspicuous. In course of time, however, 
and very quickly if solutions are left about for any time in 
them, the inside of the dishes becomes covered with little 
cracks. These cracks pass through the glaze, and allow the 
porous material beyond to absorb the solutions placed in the 
dish, and it is no longer possible to clean such dishes perfectly. 
They may then, if cleaned as well as possible, be used for 


106 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


developing, for fixing and for washing plates, but should not 
be used for toning with gold and platinum, or for any opera¬ 
tion about which the photographer does not feel that slight 
contamination does not matter. Xylonite dishes are the most 
portable and light, but they are easily broken, cannot be used 
for any solutions that are not quite cold, nor for solutions 
containing alcohol or acetone, and it is not easy to see any 
dirt they may contain. Papier-mache is quite unbreakable, 
and for developing, fixing, etc., is very suitable ; but it, too, does 
not show up dirt. A papier-mache dish answers well for hypo, 
and when it begins to look worn and dirty, may have a good 
scrubbing with hot water and soap, be well rinsed, dried 
thoroughly, and painted inside and out with Brunswick Black, 
when it is as good as ever again. Large dishes are heavy, 
fragile, and expensive, if made of porcelain. They are never 
perfectly flat; the plate therefore rocks on them, and they take 
more solution than should be necessary. For this reason 
for sizes larger than 15 by 12 inches, dishes made of a 
sheet of glass in a wooden frame are popular. The bottom of 
such dishes is absolutely flat, as the photographer finds out 
when he tries to pick up a large plate from such a dish, and 
ultimately has to take his knife to it. These dishes are fragile, 
but are comparatively cheap. Best of all for large sizes, is a 
dish constructed of thin wood, with stouter wood for its sides, 
well waxed within and without, and then lined with thin 
American cloth. The waxing may be done with a paraffin candle 
and a flat iron, the dishes being made by the local carpenter. 
A sheet of American cloth decidedly larger than the dish is 
then placed in it, neatly folded, and the edges outside tacked 
to the wood. By ironing the cloth into position, the wax is 
melted and cements it tightly into place, but not so tightly 
that when the inside gets dirty or worn, it is impossible to 
strip off the cloth and reline the dish. For occasional enlarge¬ 
ments and similar work these dishes are excellent. They are 
light and cheap, while if they are not easily cleaned, their 
lining may be renewed from time to time without much 
expense or trouble. After use they should always be dried 
and hung up. 

Measures are a necessity in the dark room. The larger 
ones are best of cylindrical shape ; these have not got that 


THE DARK ROOM 


107 


point at the bottom which is so difficult to clean. On the 
other hand, they can only be used for measuring quantities 
which nearly fill them, and for the smaller measurements they 
give only the roughest approximation. One of the small 
measures should therefore be of conical shape so that io or 
20 minims can be got with reasonable accuracy. A jug 
holding a pint and another of two pints will be found useful. 
A funnel or two, of glass, must be at hand; and if sulphide 
solutions are to be mixed up, for toning purposes, a thin glass 
“ boiling ” flask will be required. The scales should weigh 
from io grains to 2 ozs., and should not be kept in the 
dark room unless in a cupboard or drawer, where they are 
not likely to be exposed to fumes. A packet or two of cut 
filter paper circles may be kept with the scales, a paper being 
put in each pan when weighing to secure cleanliness and 
accuracy. 

It is a very bad plan to keep sensitive plates and papers in 
the dark room, as there must be no room in the house where 
they are so likely to be exposed to fumes that may injure 
them. The best place is in a drawer or cupboard, under lock 
and key, of course, in a passage or room that is not often used. 
Heat, gas and other fumes, and damp are as injurious to 
sensitive products as light itself. At the same time a light¬ 
tight drawer in the dark room is very convenient, as plates 
may be slipped into it, if daylight is to be let in for a little 
time. When enlarging also, it will hold the supply of bromide 
paper, if this has been sold in an envelope which fits it so 
tightly that putting back the paper after taking out a sheet is 
almost out of the question—not, by the way, an imaginary 
case. A most ingenious light-tight drawer is in the dark room 
of a friend of the author. It is constructed on the principle of 
the little boxes in which French wax matches are supplied. 
An inner lid fits on a ledge all round the top of the drawer. 
The back half of this lid is a fixture, but the front half is 
hinged to the back and is pushed up into a vertical position by 
a spring. On opening the drawer the lid flies up, on closing 
it, the lid is pushed down, thus making the drawer absolutely 
light-tight, which an ordinary drawer would not be. ■ 

No dark room is complete without a nail brush, soap, and a 
towel. Cleanliness, personal and instrumental, is an absolute 


108 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


necessity in successful photography. As a final example of 
the way in which dirt lies in wait for the photographer, a case 
may be mentioned of a succession of spoiled prints which were 
traced to the accidental dipping first into one solution and then 
into another of the photographer’s coat sleeve. Shirt-sleeves 
and an apron form the best dark-room uniform. 


CHAPTER X 
EXPOSURE 


Gradation the test of exposure—Hurter and Driffield’s “perfect negative”—The 
latitude in plates—Over-exposure at first only causes fog—The factors which 
influence exposure—Strength of light—The influence of the lens—The speed of 
plates—The Hurter and Driffield, Watkins and Wynne numbers—Their trans¬ 
lation—The subject—Exposures indoors—Meters and tables—The Actinograph— 
The Watkins meter—The secret of success with the Watkins meter—Exposures 
in sunny climes—A little haze no drawback. 


XPOSURE is the crux of the photographic process. 



-I—* Beside it the other operations are comparatively simple, 
and can be definitely and fully prescribed. But the exposure 
of the plate must be governed by circumstances, which, in most 
cases, cannot be foretold, and some, even at the time, can only 
be estimated. In the early days of the dry plate, it was 
generally accepted that if the photographer exposed his plate 
incorrectly he could remedy it in development. In other 
words, it was said that he could “ compensate for under or over 
exposure.” That has long since been shown to be a fallacy ; 
and although careful quantitative experiments indicate the 
possibility of errors in exposure being to some extent remedied 
by development modifications, such modifications are not 
those which photographers employ, nor indeed are they of real 
service in actual practice. The mistake lay in supposing that 
methods which make an over-exposed negative look—super¬ 
ficially—like one that has been correctly exposed, remedy the 
over-exposure. A negative is only a means to an end ; that 
end is the print. If the remedy for over-exposure does not 
give a print that differs in any way from one obtained from a 
negative “ unremedied,” the remedy may fairly be considered 
as inoperative. 

The beauty of photography is its power of rendering half¬ 
tone or gradation. Two photographs of the same subject may 


110 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


differ very widely in this respect. They may both have the 
highest light equally white, and the deepest shadow in each 
may be an equally dark tone, yet everything else may be 
different. In one a tone in the original which lay about mid¬ 
way between those two extremes, may in the photograph be 
equally midway between the brightest and the darkest tones ; 
in the other the intermediate tone may be altered so as to be 
almost as dark as the darkest, or as light as the lightest. The 
result is that the latter print seems altogether wrong, though to 
the unpractised eye it is difficult, if not quite impossible, to say 
just how it is wrong. This defect is quite apart from the value of 
the gradations themselves ; it is not flatness nor harshness, which 
are qualities dependent upon the actual value of the gradations. 
It depends solely on their relative values. Whatever result the 
photographer may want to get in the end, he always aims— 
though sometimes very blindly—to get the relative gradations 
right in the negative. The actual conditions under which this is 
possible were first clearly laid down by Dr. Hurter, an eminent 
chemist, and Mr. V. C. Driffield, an engineer, who collaborated 
with him, in the most important photographic research of 
modern times. 

This is not the place for a discussion of the experiments of 
Hurter and Driffield, or even for a recapitulation of the whole of 
their results. But the outcome to practical photographers may¬ 
be summarized briefly, and is easily understood. A “perfect 
negative ” they considered to be one which reproduced truth¬ 
fully, but in negative form, all the tones of the subject—not one 
in which the intermediate tones were shifted nearer in value to 
the highest or the lowest tone. The degree of contrast in such 
a negative was governed by the printing process which was to 
be used with it—some processes require a “ stronger ” negative 
than others, as is well known ; but, whatever the contrast, the 
intermediate tones must all be in their proper proportions if the 
negative is to be considered perfect. Such a negative can only 
be obtained when the plate has been correctly exposed. If it 
is then developed with a developer which does not fog the plate 
in the comparatively short time during which it is exposed to it, 
which developer is practically free from bromide, the result will 
be a perfect negative. If it is developed for a very short time, 
the negative will be a thin one, suitable for bromide enlarging 


EXPOSURE 


111 


and other purposes for which much contrast is unnecessary. If 
it is developed longer, the negative gradually acquires more 
and more contrast, but it is still a “ perfect negative,” the 
relation between its different gradations being unaltered, 
although the extent of the difference keeps on increasing with 
development. This result is expressed by saying the density 
ratios are unaltered by development. A point is reached at 
length, beyond which development is unnecessary, the negative 
acquiring too much contrast for any printing process. If, there¬ 
fore, we have a correctly exposed plate, and we apply to it a 
suitable developer, we can get a negative suitable for any 
printing process we like, according to the extent to which we 
allow the plate to develop. 

The “perfect negative ” of Hurter and Driffield is the type of 
negative every photographer tries to get . It is a negative which 
can only be obtained by exposing the plate correctly. 

This would indeed have been sad news to photographers if 
it meant that they had to time their exposures to a nicety ; but, 
fortunately, it is not as it looks at first. The same researches 
showed that most plates possessed a good deal of “ latitude in 
exposure,” some had an immense amount, and all had some. 
The meaning of the expression can be shown by an example. 
If it is found that a plate will give a “perfect negative” with 
a certain exposure, it will give an equally perfect negative with 
twice, four times, eight times, occasionally even thirty-two 
times as long. This latitude depends on the subject, the 
character of the emulsion on the plate, and the thickness of its 
coating. The thicker the plate is coated, within reason, the 
greater the latitude. The slower the plate, as a rule, the 
greater the latitude also ; though to this there are exceptions. 
The shorter the scale of light and shade in the subject, the 
greater the latitude also. So that we no longer have to hit 
upon the exact exposure, which would under most conditions 
be almost if not quite impossible, but have a margin, within 
which any exposure will be correct. 

Every photographer knows that if he takes two plates, and 
gives one eight times the exposure of the other, he gets two 
widely differing negatives ; yet few would be able to state 
definitely in what manner the two negatives differ. If both 
were of the same subject, and both were correctly exposed, one, 


112 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


let us say, having eight times the exposure of the other ; and 
if the two were developed side by side in the same dish for the 
same time, different as they would look to the eye, the prints 
which they would give would be identical. All that would be 
required would be to print one for a longer time than the other. 
The negative which had the longer exposure would be the 
exact counterpart of the other, except for a certain amount of 
fog. That fog is measurable. With proper appliances, it is 
quite easy to fog an unexposed plate, develop it to the required 
point, and then by putting it in contact with the negative which 
had the shorter exposure, to make it appear, and be, exactly 
identical in every respect with the negative which had the 
longer exposure. The fog would make the negative take longer 
to print, but would not otherwise have any effect upon it that 
we need consider in this place. 

As time of printing is comparatively unimportant beside 
truthfulness of tone, it would appear that so long as the ex¬ 
posure is a correct one, it does not matter much whether it is a 
large correct or a small correct one. In many subjects it does 
matter, however, as has been shown in a previous chapter, 
when dealing with the subject of halation. The shortest 
possible correct exposure is that which gives the least risk 
of halation. 

The importance of correct exposure, within the limits of the 
latitude of the plate, having thus been shown, it remains to 
consider the methods by which it can be obtained. Exposure 
is influenced by— 

1. The strength of the light. 

2. The focus and aperture of the lens. 

3. The speed of the plate. 

4. The nature of the subject. 

5. The movement of the subject or of the camera. 

This last factor is not limited to hand-camera work, but 
still is so largely a hand-camera consideration that we may pass 
it by for the present. The others make fearsome list enough 
by themselves. It was customary for photographers at one 
time to look at the brightness of the image on the ground 
glass, and to conclude from that the exposure required. It was 
a rule-of-thumb method, and resulted in many failures, until in 
time a kind of knack of guessing exposures was acquired. One 



LANDSCAPE] 

B < CHARLES JOB 



























EXPOSURE 


113 


thing is quite certain, and that is that, consciously or uncon¬ 
sciously, the photographer was not influenced by what he saw 
on the ground glass. Such workers are still amongst us, and 
from their long experience are still some of the cleverest 
photographers, but a new generation is rapidly arising to which 
such “ methods ” are unknown. Photographers cannot now 
afford the time or the material to acquire the knack of judging 
exposure nearly half as well as it can be done mechanically, 
and amongst all but the hopelessly antiquated, the exposure 
meter reigns supreme. 

The strength of the light at the time of making the exposure 
is influenced by three distinct things—the height of the sun, the 
state of the atmosphere (which means more than is usually 
understood by the weather), and the physical obstructions by 
which some of the total light is cut off from the subject photo¬ 
graphed. Abney, Eder, La Baume Pluvinel, and others, com¬ 
piled tables showing the fluctuation in daylight throughout the 
year, and at different times of the day. The best known of all 
was that of Dr. J. A. Scott. Other tables were drawn up to 
show the variation due to the weather, while yet a third table 
dealt with the different classes of subject, and the lens. By 
extracting from these tables the figures standing for the 
particular conditions of the moment, and multiplying them 
together, a figure was arrived at which was the exposure re¬ 
quired by a particular speed of plate. Until towards the end 
of the eighties this was the only method of calculating the 
exposure that was available. It gave by no means an invari¬ 
ably correct result, and was used by comparatively few. Even 
guesswork, to most, seemed preferable. 

At about that date the conclusion was reached of a long series 
of careful measurements, conducted during several years, by 
Messrs. Hurter and Driffield. These showed that the influence 
of the height of the sun was a perfectly definite one, and enabled 
them to tabulate and to express in the form of curves the 
changes in the power of daylight due to this cause. These 
curves formed the basis of the “ Actinograph,” by which ex¬ 
posures could be estimated. The influence of the weather 
upon the strength of the daylight is not so great as might be 
imagined. The older tables gave it as one to five—that is to say, 
place, season, and time of day being the same, the light when 
I 


114 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the weather is very bright is not more than five times as 
strong as when it is very dulL Hurter and Driffield made it 
even less—one to four. 

Besides the height of the sun, and the weather, there is an 
important modification of the daylight effected by the dust¬ 
laden atmosphere through which it passes. This is best seen 
at sunset, when the thickness of the atmosphere through which 
the sun is seen is greatest. The red colour of the light is then 
most pronounced, and red being the tint to which photo¬ 
graphic plates are least sensitive, the light at such times is not 
as strong, photographically, as it seems. 

The influence of the lens upon the exposure is easily 
expressed. It may be said to be governed entirely by the 
ratio which the diameter of the opening in the stop bears to 
the focal length, which photographers speak of as the F/ number. 
So long as the other conditions remain the same, all lenses 
working at the same F/ number require the same exposure. 
While this is quite accurate enough for all ordinary purposes, 
it is not absolutely true. The glass of which a lens is com¬ 
posed absorbs a certain quantity of the light entering it, and 
the thicker the glass, the more light it absorbs. If the glass 
has any trace of a yellow tinge, it is absorbing just that light 
which is most active on the plate. Some old lenses have this 
tinge of yellow, due to the action of light upon the particular 
glass of which they are made. Such lenses act to some extent 
as colour screens, and wonderful properties have been claimed 
for individual specimens from time to time. Needless to say, 
if a colour screen is to be used, it is better to have one made 
suited to the plate with which it is to be employed, than trust 
to the haphazard of a yellowed lens. Occasionally the balsam 
with which the different glasses of the lens are cemented 
together turns yellow and cuts off useful light. 

Both these defects are very rare, and need not be taken 
into consideration at all as influencing exposure ; but there is 
another circumstance whose power in that direction is often 
overlooked. A lens with a focus of 8 inches and a stop I inch 
in diameter has that stop marked F/8. This is only its true 
designation, however, so long as the focussing screen is 8 inches 
from the lens—that is to say, at its principal focus. To take an 
extreme case, suppose copying the same size as the original is 


EXPOSURE 


115 


in hand. The stop is i inch in diameter, but to get the copy 
the right size and sharp, it will be found that the screen has 
to be 16 inches from the lens instead of 8, so that the stop 
marked F/8 is actually F/i6, and the exposure must be altered 
accordingly. Under ordinary circumstances, the focussing 
screen is not moved so far from the principal focus as to 
necessitate any allowance on this account, but in portrait work 
and in copying it may be. 

Another source of error that is sometimes overlooked is the 
use of one combination of a double lens only; this has been 
dealt with in Chapter VII. 

The speed of the plate is the third factor to be considered 
in exposure calculations. Any one whose knowledge of plate 
speeds is derived from the marks on plate boxes will have a 
very erroneous idea as to their definite character. A case in 
point will make this clear. A good many years ago, the author 
was secretary to a committee appointed by the Royal Photo¬ 
graphic Society to investigate the whole question of plate 
speeds in the hope that some definite system might be adopted. 
It fell to him to obtain a number of different plates, and to give 
two of each kind to each member of the committee, that he 
might work out their speed in his own method, not knowing 
what were the plates with which he was dealing. When the 
committee met and the results were compared, it was found 
that the experts who composed it were not even in agreement 
in the order in which they arranged the plates in point of speed, 
much less did they agree upon the figures denoting the speeds. 
Moreover, it was not found possible to agree even upon a 
definition of “the speed of a plate.” The only method of 
ascertaining speed at one time was by means of a highly 
ingenious instrument called the Warnerke sensitometer, which 
had only one defect, and that was that its results were quite 
erroneous when tested in the light of actual practice. It com¬ 
pared plates according to the quantity of light action required 
to produce, on development, the faintest perceptible image on 
the plate. As such an image was quite unprintable, the read- 
ing given by the Warnerke sensitometer would only be correct 
if the exposure required to produce a printable image bore some 
definite relation to that which was sufficient to produce one 
barely visible on the negative. It does not. It was soon found 


116 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


that of two plates, one might prove to be faster than the other 
in the sensitometer, while in actual negative making in the 
camera the positions were reversed. An attempt was made to 
get over this by reading, not the faintest visible image, but 
the feeblest printable image; but this varied according to the 
judgment of the reader, and even then did not agree with the 
behaviour of the plates in practice. 

It was Hurter and Driffield, in the memorable research to 
which reference has already been made, who first showed that 
it was necessary to take into consideration the exposure required 
to give, upon development, that rendering of the subject which 
they called a “ perfect negative.” There is no need to go into 
the methods by which this is done, as it is a matter for the 
plate maker rather than for the plate user; but they worked 
out a complete system of plate testing, by means of which it is 
possible to express the speed of a plate as a number inversely 
proportional to the exposure that plate requires to give a 
“ perfect negative ” under definite conditions. This is now 
known by their initials, and plates are marked H. and D. 50, 
H. and D. 100, and so on, the latter requiring one-half the ex¬ 
posure of the former. A good many makers now mark their 
plates with the H. and D. numbers, but owing to differences in 
the manner of making the tests, the H. and D. numbers of one 
maker do not compare strictly with those of another, though 
they are reliable enough for the plates of different speeds by 
the same maker. Marion and Co., so far as the author is aware, 
are the only makers whose H. and D. numbers are obtained 
strictly on the lines laid down by Hurter and Driffield. The 
H. and D. Actinograph has already been mentioned. 

Watkins and Wynne make exposure meters, in which it is 
necessary to denote plate speeds by means of a number, and 
each of these makers issues lists of plates giving the Watkins 
or the Wynne number for each, these numbers being obtained 
by actual tests of the plates, and checked from time to time. 
The use of them will be referred to later on. The following 
rules for converting H. and D. numbers into Watkins and Wynne 
numbers are given by Mr. Sterry :— 

To obtain the Watkins number, multiply the H. and D. number by two ; 
and vice vend , to obtain the H. and D. number, halve the Watkins number. 



GRANNIE’S TIRED BAIRN 

BY JOHN HEPBURN 









EXPOSURE 


117 


To obtain the Wynne number, multiply the H. and D. number by sixty- 
four and take the square root ; and vice versA , to obtain the H. and D. 
number, square the Wynne number and divide by sixty-four. 


As the H. and D. numbers on plate boxes are not strictly 
comparable, it is much better, whenever practicable, to obtain 
the lists of plates and speed numbers issued by Watkins or by 
Wynne, and to use those. 

The nature of the subject is the only remaining factor to 
consider for the moment; and, thanks to exposure meters, it is 
now the only factor which the photographer must furnish from 
his own judgment. If we can measure the light that falls on the 
subject, we need only consider its colour and distance. Dark- 
coloured objects, and those which are yellow or red, may require 
as much as twice the average exposure. Very light objects, on 
the other hand, may be fully exposed with one-half. If all the 
other conditions were unaltered, three photographers facing a 
whitewashed building, an ordinary grey stone building, and a 
blackened ivy-covered ruin respectively, would be within the 
mark if they gave exposures one-half and twice that given for 
the stone building. Those who have never used an exposure 
meter are surprised at the very little difference which the 
subject itself demands, but this is undoubtedly due to the fact 
that they have not been accustomed to consider separately the 
influence of each factor. 

The distance of the most important part of the subject has 
far more influence. The nearer an object to the camera, the 
longer exposure will it require. The cause of this is that we 
see everything through a veil of air laden with dust and with 
moisture which reflects the light, and so makes the apparent 
darkness of any object get less and less as the thickness of the 
layer of air through which we view it increases. Authorities 
are agreed that the ratio of I : io represents the effect of 
distance upon exposure. That is to say, an object at the 
greatest distance at which it is likely to be photographed will 
require about one-tenth the exposure the same object would 
require close at hand. Thus the grey stone building just 
alluded to, which would be presumably within fifty or a 
hundred yards of the camera, would require about ten times 
the exposure that it would need were it on the horizon. The 


118 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


only views often photographed at such distances are panoramas 
of sea and sky, and we are therefore safe in giving them about 
one-tenth that which would be given to buildings or landscapes 
of the ordinary character. On the other hand, objects which 
are much nearer to the camera than fifty yards are not affected 
to any noticeable extent by the intervening atmosphere, and 
the exposure need not be altered in consequence. 

The exposures hitherto considered have been exclusively 
out-of-doors. But the conditions indoors are not greatly 
different, provided always we can measure the actual light 
falling upon the subject. The question of distance ceases 
to be troublesome. In the case of portraiture in a studio, 
exposures hardly present any difficulty at all; the conditions 
vary so little that the photographer soon acquires the knack 
of estimating them without using any meter or other appliance. 
There is another consideration here, which helps to make it 
easier. The scale of gradation in a portrait is usually very 
short. The highest light may be a collar or cuff, rarely, if ever, 
in sunshine; the deepest shadow the fold of a dark dress, 
illuminated by reflected light from the studio walls, and 
possibly from reflectors employed for the special purpose. 
In outdoor work we may have a whitewashed wall on which 
the sun shines, and a dark oak door in deep shadow. The 
range in the latter case may be four times as long as in the 
former, or even more. This means that if we have a plate 
which gives us a latitude in the case of the landscape of four 
times, it will give us a latitude of sixteen times with the portrait. 
As a matter of fact, many of the plates on the market will far 
exceed this. 

A consideration of all these factors may make the problem 
of correct exposure seem almost insoluble, but this is very far 
from being the case. In fact, if it is approached the proper 
way, and a little trouble is taken to understand it at the out¬ 
set, it becomes quite simple. There are a number of appliances 
by which exposures can be ascertained. These fall into two 
groups, exposure tables and exposure meters. The former 
give assistance in calculating approximately the power of the 
light, the latter directly measure it. This last would be perfect, 
if the sensitive preparation by which it was measured was 
affected by light in exactly the same way as the plate; but 


EXPOSURE 


119 


theoretical perfection in this respect has not been reached. 
But in practice, except under special and infrequent conditions, 
when orthochromatic plates are used, the light measurers give 
indications upon which the photographer may implicitly rely. 
In his own work the author uses an exposure meter invariably. 

There are various representatives of these two types of 
exposure aids, but a typical one of each need alone be 
mentioned. Amongst exposure tables, the “ Actinograph ” is 
at once the most perfect and the most widely applicable. It is 
a combination of the curves of light intensity, ascertained by 
Hurter and Driffield, with a slide rule, and its general appear¬ 
ance can be seen from the illustration. The card at the top 
is pulled out until the 
top scale cuts it at the 
date on which the ex¬ 
posure is being made. 

This scale is then slid 
along until the figure 
representing the lens 
and stop employed 
comes against the black 
line on the card bearing 
the time of day. The 
lower sliding scale is 
then moved until the 

mark on it is against _ _ . 

tig. 13.—I he Actinograph. 

the figure which, in the 

bottom graduation of all, stands for the H. and D. speed of 
the plate. We can then read oft' the exposure in seconds, 
according to the weather, “very dull, dull, mean, bright, or 
very bright,” the last being one-fourth the first. The whole 
calculation need not take twenty seconds. The result is the 
exposure for an “ordinary landscape,” which is not quite 
the same kind of object as what Watkins calls his standard 
subject, but is more of an open view. (The Watkins standard 
subject requires about one and a half times the exposure 
of the Actinograph “ Ordinary landscape.”) The number 
read off on the Actinograph is multiplied by two or three 
for close subjects or for subjects which have heavy shadows 
in the foreground ; is halved, or even further diminished for 


































120 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


distant views. But it only has to be modified to suit the 
character of the subject, all the other factors having been taken 
into consideration by the little machine itself, and in this 
way the problem of correct exposure is very greatly simplified. 
The “ Actinograph” has one drawback, which unfits it alto¬ 
gether for the globe-trotting photographer. As its light scales 
depend upon the height of the sun above the horizon, it is only 
applicable to exposures in the latitude for which they are 
arranged, and if the photographer travels much to the north or 
south thereof, he must either abandon the instrument or provide 
himself with light curves for other latitudes. The makers 
supply several of these; but the need for them must be 
recognized as a factor in the want of popularity from which the 
Actinograph has suffered. 

No such limitation affects the Watkins exposure meter, which 

we may take as a type of those instruments which measure the 

light at the moment of exposure. This 

most useful tool is made in a variety of 

* 

patterns, some of which are extremely 
simple and are low priced. 

The pattern that is most generally 
used is that known as the “ Bee ” meter 
and shown in Fig. 14. It is very simple 
in use. Watkins from time to time pub¬ 
lishes lists of plates against which are 
given the speed numbers according to 
Watkins’ system. Having ascertained 
the speed of the plates that are in use, and 
the time taken for the sensitive paper to darken to the standard 
tint which is sold with it, the meter is held by the ring at the 
top, and then holding the glass and back between finger and 
thumb, we find we can rotate these together. We do so, until 
the figures on the inner dial marked “stop,” which correspond 
to the stop which is being used, come against the number on the 
rim, marked “ Plate ” which represents the speed of the plate as 
given by Watkins. On the other side of the face of the meter 
on the dial we then find in the column marked “ Light ” the 
number of seconds which the meter paper took to darken, and 
then against this on the rim, in the column marked “ Exp,” 
is the exposure. The calculation with this form of meter 



Fig. 14.—Watkins “Bee" 
Exposure Meter. 


EXPOSURE 


121 


does not take half as long to perform as this paragraph takes 
to read. 

Alterations on account of subject are not extensive. The 
exposure ascertained as just described is commonly correct. 
But it may be modified in four different degrees, at times, as 
given by Watkins in the following list:— 


Sky, or sky and sea.. 

Snow and glacier scenes ; white, or 
black and white prints or objects ; 
sea view with shipping 
Light coloured objects ; open land¬ 
scape (no foreground), lake or 
water scenes ; half-tone photo¬ 
graphs 

Very deep coloured objects, as old 
oak, old paintings 


S. io, or ^ the indicated exposure. 
S. 25, or 1 the indicated exposure. 

S. 50, or ijr the indicated exposure. 


S. 150, or 1 1 the indicated exposure. 


The indicated exposure referred to is that marked E, or 
that for the standard subject. 

The whole secret of using the Watkins meter successfully 
lies in the testing of the light by its means. The meter is not 
held in sunlight, or even in diffused light by the camera, but 
the light to be measured must be that which falls upon the 
shadiest part of the subject in which full detail is required. 
The instrument is so held that it faces the sky under these 
conditions. To do this it does not mean that of necessity the 
meter must be carried to the shadiest part of the subject, and 
there exposed ; in most cases it is possible to extemporize a 
shadow to correspond. If the body is turned to face the same 
way as the shadow side of a house in a street scene, and the 
meter is held near the body and in its shadow, the reading will 
usually be near enough. If the view is an open landscape 
with no very deep shadows at all, the meter may be held 
further away from the body. A little familiarity with the 
instrument, if the results obtained with it are noted, will make 
its use quite simple and its indications almost if not quite 
infallible. In outdoor work, if the light is fairly constant, there 
will be no need to measure it for every exposure, as will soon 
be seen. With hand cameras, where there are only one or two 
speeds at which the shutter can be set, the meter can be used 
backwards, setting the exposure scale to one of the exposures 


122 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


possible with the shutter, and finding out from the scale marked 
D the stop which with that exposure will be correct. 

There is a belief about that success in photography depends 
upon a powerful light, and that countries with uninterrupted 
sunshine and cloudless skies are particularly favourable to the 
camera user. Like a good many more of the popular ideas on 
photography, it is a complete fallacy. Hand-camera work, 
where plenty of light is a necessity, can be carried on in 
sunny climes more days in the year and more hours in the 
day than it can in England. But that is the sum-total of 
the advantage. On a sunny spring or summer day in 
Britain, exposures will be found to be every bit as short as 
those in countries much further south, where the sun beats 
down from a cloudless sky. The reason is easy to understand. 
Exposures must be made for the shadows and not for those 
parts on which the sun falls directly, and the moisture-laden 
atmosphere of Britain causes the shadow to be lighter than the 
clear dry air of, say, a Spanish summer. Except in countries 
like Switzerland, where snow-covered mountains act as vast 
reflectors, sending light into shadows never reached by the sun 
itself, it will not ever be found that exposures are very much 
shorter than they need be in good summer light in this country ; 
while it need hardly be pointed out that, pictorially, the clear 
atmosphere presents a very real difficulty to the photographer 
instead of aiding him. 

A few years ago, during the great coal strike in America, 
the author visited New York, and took some photographs as 
mementos of his visit. Several of the Americans he met 
assured him that owing to the smoke-laden atmosphere due to 
the soft coal they were then compelled to burn—it was about 
as smoke laden as Cumberland—they would give quite an 
unfavourable view of their city. On the other hand, it was 
infinitely more beautiful than it appeared a few weeks later, 
when the strike was over, the hard smokeless coal once more 
in use, and the distant New Jersey shore as clear cut and as 
near as the buildings in the next block. The atmosphere of 
London, whatever may be said of its hygienic properties, lends 
a charm to many of its prospects, which an artist cannot fail tc 
appreciate. 



A STREET IN COUTANCES 


BY HERBERT 


BAIRSTOW 

































































■ 


























CHAPTER XI 


DEVELOPMENT 

The latent image, theory and practice—The speed of plates considered a matter of 
development—Control in development—The Kodak developing machine—The 
appearance of the picture—The problem, how far to develop—Solved by 
inspection—By the Watkins method—By time—Developers—Removing the 
backing—Fixing—Acid hypo baths—Washing—Hypo eliminators—The ideal 
washer—V arnishing. 

I F it were necessary to show how completely in photography 
practice has outrun theory, nothing more is required than 
to give the case of the latent image. We take a sensitive plate, 
and expose it in the camera. We know the result of that 
exposure is to bring about such a change in the film that on 
applying a suitable agent the silver bromide where the light 
has acted is reduced to metallic silver, while where the light 
has not acted reduction does not take place, at any rate so 
soon. Yet though the result is known, the nature of the 
change in the plate brought about by the action of light 
remains a complete mystery. There are two conflicting theories, 
and each has its supporters. 

While our knowledge of the theory of the latent image is so 
imperfect, a great deal of light has been shed upon the practice of 
exposure and development, and here again we at once encounter 
the names of Hurter and Driffield. We have already seen that 
until the publication of their great paper before the Society 
of Chemical Industry in 1891, it was universally believed by 
photographers that they possessed the power of compensating 
for errors in exposure by modifications in development. So 
long as such a belief held sway it was manifestly impossible to 
express in any definite manner the “ speed ” of a plate, since it 
followed that this was entirely a question of developer. If a 
photographer could turn an under exposure into a correct 
exposure by a change in the developer, he made the plate 

123 


\u 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


faster by so doing, and vice versd. The source of this error, 
for such it is now known to be, lay in the failure to recognize 
gradation as the true index of exposure. 

While most plate makers, being pecuniarily interested, were 
quick to avail themselves of the work of Hurter and Driffield, 
plate users, trained in the earlier methods, were by no 
means so ready to apply that work to their own practice ; and 
even to-day there are plenty of photographers who develop in 
the old way, adding alkali if they think a plate is under 
exposed, and bromide if the fault seems to be in the other 
direction, under the impression that they are compensating for 
such errors. Gradually, however, the truth is working its way 
amongst even the old style photographers, that the develop¬ 
ment of a plate should be almost as definite an operation as 
fixing itself, consisting of the application of the most powerful 
unrestrained developer the plate will stand, until it has done 
the required work in the film. This leaves one factor alone 
for control by the photographer, namely, the extent to which 
development should be carried. 

Control of the extent of development can be exercised by 
controlling the proportions of the different ingredients of the 
developer, the temperature at which development is carried 
out, and the time during which the developer is allowed to 
act. Generally speaking, it is well not to change the first, 
unless the make of plate itself is changed, but to ascertain the 
composition of the developer which will do all that is required 
before it apparently acts upon the unexposed parts of the 
plate, and to use such a developer always. Control of the 
temperature is actually very simple, although few photo¬ 
graphers care to regulate it directly by standardizing the 
temperature of their solutions by means of a thermometer. 
The most usual method of development is to ascertain the time 
taken for the first sign of the image to appear, and to develop 
for some multiple of that time. But it is quite easy, by 
making up a standard developer, ascertaining the temperature 
of the liquid and then developing the plate for the time required 
by that temperature, to produce uniform and excellent results. 

This is the principle upon which the Kodak Developing 
Machine and the Kodak Tank Developer were based, and the 
success with which those machines operated, astounding as it 


DEVELOPMENT 


125 


often was to the photographer filled with the belief in his power 
of control, played and is playing a large part in the rapid adop¬ 
tion of the same principle to the development of plates. 

Having settled upon the composition of his developer, there 
are three methods open to the photographer, which we will 
consider in order. In the first, he applies the developer to the 
plate, rocking the dish the while, and watching the appearance 
of the image by the red light of the dark room ; the second is 
the Watkins factorial method; and the third, time development 
pure and simple. 

There is no more wonderful or attractive experiment in the 
whole range of physical science than the gradual building up 
of that picture in metallic silver, on the slight and mysterious 
foundations laid, it may be in the thousandth of a second, by 
the impulse of light alone. It is an experiment which, to the 
reflective mind, can never lose its interest. There is the 
creamy coating on the plate without a sign to suggest in 
the faintest manner the wonderful potentialities that lie upon 
its surface. No test that we can apply, other than the de¬ 
veloper itself, will even tell us whether it is in its pristine state 
of purity, or whether it has already had the magic touch which 
has given it the power to preserve through all time a minute 
and impeccable record of a state of things itself perhaps of the 
most transient character. We thoughtlessly snap off our 
camera at an express train as it dashes through a station. 
A hundred years afterwards, if the negative is preserved, it 
will not merely give us the impression of the train in its 
passage, it will show us the people on the platform, the signals 
with their message of safety or danger, the arrangement of the 
very bricks in the station walls. Nay, it will tell us the par¬ 
ticular stalks of the particular plants in the porter’s garden 
that at that moment bore flowers. What other everyday 
action can compare with this, either in the elaborate detail of 
the result, or in the simplicity of the means by which it has 
been brought about? And this is the miracle which takes 
place in the dark room of every photographer each time he 
develops a plate. How often do we spare a thought from the 
trivial anxieties of the moment to the marvellous character of 
the powers we are employing ? 

This change then is watched by the photographer, with his 


126 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


mind as a rule, it is only reasonable to suppose, directed upon 
the immediate problem which confronts him. That problem 
is, how far to carry development. He watches the gradual 
emergence of the image on the film, notes how it darkens over 
in the most exposed portions first, until the details there are 
no longer perceptible, and how this darkening gradually extends 
to the shadows also. If all is as it should be, the edges of the 
plate where the light has not acted at all, whatever happens, 
should not perceptibly change colour; but if the exposure has 
been the shortest correct one, there will be a distinct darkening 
in even the deepest shadows. If these remain white, the plate 
is unquestionably under-exposed. But, assuming that it has 
been properly exposed, they will in time dull over; until, look¬ 
ing at the plate as it lies in the dish, the darkest parts of the 
subject can only just be seen as distinctly lighter in tone than 
the rest of the plate. The photographer then knows that 
development is nearing completion. If stopped at this stage, 
the negative may be a “ perfect ” one, in the Hurter and Driffield 
sense, but not necessarily so for the purpose for which it is 
required. 

Some of the printing processes in use require a soft negative, 
some a medium, some a distinctly hard negative. The differ¬ 
ence is solely brought about by the extent to which develop¬ 
ment is carried, and the photographer has now to decide how 
far he is to continue the operation. To do this by the eye he 
has three guides: the appearance of the plate looking down 
on its surface ; the appearance on the back ; and the appearance 
looking through it at the light. The first we have alluded to, 
and theoretically this should be the most reliable, because it 
is not influenced, as are the other two, by the thickness of the 
coating on the plate. Actually all three are observed ; modern 
plates are all machine made, and there is comparatively little 
variation in the coating. Looking through the plate at the 
light, the image should look decidedly stronger than is desired 
in the fixed negative, though how much stronger it is hard to 
judge. If the plate is a very thickly coated one, and the 
exposure is correct, but full, it is quite possible that little or 
nothing will be seen on looking through it, the film to the 
weak red light seeming quite opaque. The appearance at the 
back is then the only guide. In a landscape, the outline of 
the sky should be plainly seen on the glass of the plate, though 


DEVELOPMENT 


127 


the sky ought not to appear as very greatly darker in tint 
than the rest, or the plate is either very thinly coated or is 
over-developed. Using plates of the same brand, it is not at 
all difficult to determine, approximately, when to stop develop¬ 
ment in this way, though no such uniformity in the resulting 
negatives is likely to be secured as when time development 
pure and simple is employed. 

The Watkins factorial method of development is the easiest 
that a beginner can adopt; and as used with the Watkins 
exposure meter, it will be found to give the highest percentage 
of successful results. Watkins has worked out a series of factors 
for different developing solutions, the factor being the multiple 
of the time of appearance of the image, required for complete 
development. To use this method, then, the developer is poured 
on to the plate, and the time noted. As soon as the high lights 
are distinctly visible, the time is again noted. Multiplying the 
period that has elapsed by the factor for the particular developer 
in use, we get the time required for complete development. 

The advantages of the Watkins factorial system are un¬ 
deniable. The plate may be kept covered during the whole 
time of development, except while looking for the first appear¬ 
ance of the image. As soon as this has been noted, a card 
may be put over the dish, and the total time worked out while 
the plate is in darkness. There is no uncertainty as to the 
extent to carry the operation, and so long as the exposures 
are reasonably correct, as they should be if the vVatkins meter 
is used, the method gives remarkably uniform negatives. With 
under- or over-exposures, it is not reliable. An under-exposed 
plate takes longer for the image to appear, and therefore by 
the Watkins method it takes longer to develop; an over¬ 
exposed plate is the reverse. The tendency, therefore, is for 
the under-exposed plate t o be over-developed, and the over¬ 
exposed under-developed. Neither course is desirable, and 
tends to exaggerate the defects caused by under- or over¬ 
exposure alone. If several plates are developed at once by 
the Watkins plan, and the image on some appears sooner and 
on some later than on others, if the time of one of the correctly 
exposed plates is noted and used as the basis for developing 
all of them, the results on the over- and under-exposed plates 
will be better than if they had been developed for the times 
indicated by the appearance of their own images. 


.128 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


The factor for each developer is not a hard and fast 
figure, but, necessarily, depends upon the purpose to which 
the negative is to be put. Thus if we find when using 
Watkins’ own figures, that they give negatives harder o r 
softer than we require, we can decrease the factor in the 
former case or increase it in the latter, until it yields the 
kind of negatives wanted. The following are a few of 
the factors given by Watkins himself, in his book, “ The 
Watkins Manual,” which should be consulted for further 
details of his system. 


Grains of pyro per ounce. 


Factor. 

Pyro-soda (without bromide) 

1 

• • • • • • 

... 18 

>> >) >> 

■7 

_ • • • 

• • • • • • 

... 12 

>> » » 

3 

• • • • • • 

... IO 

f> tt 

^ • • • 

• • • • • • 

... 8 

ft ft tt 

5 

... 

... 6* 

Pyrocatechin . 

• • • • • • 

• • • • • • 

... 10 

Hydrokinone (with the usual 

amount of 

bromide)... 

- 5 

Monomet (metol) 

• • • • • • 

• • • • • • 

... 30 

Amidol (2 grains) 

• • • • • • 

• • • • • • 

... 18 

Rodinal. 

••• ••• 

• • • • • • 

... 40 

Pyro-ammonia cannot be used with 

this method, 

as the re- 


suits are quite unreliable. The disadvantages of pyro-ammonia, 
however, should prevent its employment quite apart from this. 
It requires much skill in its use, and on no account should be 
employed by a beginner. Pyro-soda is perhaps the most 
universally popular, as it is most certainly the cheapest; but 
metol-hydrokinone has many admirers. In the case of com¬ 
bination developers, the factor can be obtained by taking the 
average of the factors for the two components in the pro¬ 
portions in which they are used. Thus, to arrive at the factor 
for a developer containing seven parts of hydrokinone to three 
of metol, we add together seven times the factor for hydro¬ 
kinone and three times the factor for metol, and divide the 
result by 7 + 3. 

(7 X 5) + (3 X 30) = 35 + 90 = 125 

125 -7- 10= 12the factor required. 








IN AN OLD CHURCH 

BY HENRY W. BENNETT 
































DEVELOPMENT 


129 


Those developers which have a small factor, such as, for 
example, hydrokinone, have that factor very greatly modified if 
bromide is added to the developer; but with those which have 
a high factor, metol, etc., the presence of bromide has little or 
no effect upon it. It has already been pointed out, that in 
any case bromide should not be added to a developer, as its 
action, as far as it is traceable, is distinctly injurious. Although 
a few plate makers still give bromide in their formulae, it is 
hardly necessary; and there is certainly no need for it with 
any of the plates made by the better makers, most of whom do 
not specify any bromide. 

The third method of development is by time, pure and 
simple. The developer is applied to the plates for a given time 
dependent upon its temperature, after which they are fixed and 
washed. There is no need in this case for the plates to be 
exposed to the dark-room light at all, except to make sure 
that they are covered with the developer. Any light-fog should 
therefore be impossible. There is no temptation for the photo¬ 
grapher to try and make all his negatives of uniform density, 
the besetting sin of those who judge development by the 
eye. Such a course leads to the under-development of over¬ 
exposed plates and the over-development of those that are 
under-exposed ; and is responsible for the belief that over¬ 
exposure gives thinness and under-exposure excessive density; 
both views are quite erroneous. If an under-exposed, a 
correctly exposed, and an over-exposed plate are developed 
in the same dish for the same time, that time being what is 
required to make a perfect negative of the correctly exposed 
plate, it will be found that at the same time the best that is 
possible has also been made ol the other two. We have not 
ruined the under-exposed plate past recall by over-develop¬ 
ment, as is so often the case, and if the under-exposure has not 
been too great it is quite possible that we may be able to 
intensify the negative so that it may give a passable print. In 
the same way, judicious reduction will do the best with the 
over-exposed plate. 

The Kodak developing machine was the first commercial 
apparatus to employ this principle. It is found in the hands 
of those who have never developed a film in their lives to give 
results which are as good as the most skilled developer could 

K 


150 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


make. So certain is the evidence afforded, that the Kodak 
Company itself uses the machine entirely for the development 
of roll films, and finds that the percentage of good negatives 
obtained is quite as high as when the films were developed by 
their skilled operators in the old method. This is all the 
greater testimony, since the films dealt with are those of 
customers many of whom have little or no idea of correct 
exposure. In the case of this machine, there are the added 
advantages that it dispenses with any necessity for a dark 
room, minimizes the risk of finger marks and scratches on the 
film, and enables a long length to be developed in a compact 
and easy manner. Great as are these advantages, they are com¬ 
paratively unimportant beside the fact that it secures uniform 
development, and ensures the process being carried exactly to 
the proper stage. The Kodak Company supply developing 
powders (pyro-soda) for use with the machine, and get over 
the difficulty of bringing the temperature of the developer up 
or down to a standard, by a table showing how long the 
development should take for the different temperatures likely 
to be met with. This simple method has now been extended to 
plates and cut films. 

Time development of this kind applied to plates, means 
that the photographer must first find out for himself, as such 
particulars are at present given by few of the plate makers, 
the time which the developer he selects requires to turn a 
properly exposed plate into the kind of negative he wants. 
Either he must do this for the different temperatures at which 
he may develop, or he must always work at the same tempera¬ 
ture. The former plan is more reliable in practice, but the 
latter is simpler. It is accompanied by the drawback that if 
the standard temperature is very different from that of the 
room in which development is being carried out, the developer 
soon alters in temperature and the result is not what was 
anticipated. The Watkins system, with correctly exposed 
plates as a guide, is actually one of time development and 
nothing more, the time of appearance of the image acting as 
a thermometer, and the factor enabling us to put its reading 
into practice. Taking its merits and its defects into con¬ 
sideration, it is at present undoubtedly the readiest method of 
obtaining the best possible negative on plates or cut films, as 


DEVELOPMENT 131 

the Kodak appliances unquestionably are when roll film has to 
be developed. 

So far nothing has been said of the different substances 
used for development; but it will have been inferred already 
by the reader, that the nature of the developer is comparatively 
unimportant. Formulae for developers are given wholesale in 
the instruction books, and every box of plates has with it the 
formulae which the maker recommends. These are not of 
necessity any better than any of the others that are at the 
service of the photographer; but in most cases the makers' 
formula has this one advantage — it indicates the most 
vigorous developer that can be applied to the plate without 
fogging it. Ready-made developers, speaking generally, are 
a mistake. They are usually purchased by the rawest beginners, 
and as the ready maker has probably some experience of this 
class, he takes care that his developer shall contain such a 
proportion of bromide as shall serve to counteract as far as 
possible all the beginner’s propensity to fog his plates. He is 
not to be blamed for supplying an article which gives the 
greatest satisfaction to the greatest number of those who buy 
it, but his article is to be avoided unless he can be induced to 
state definitely and truthfully that it is free from restrainer of 
any kind. 

It is a great mistake to wet a negative with water before 
putting it in the developer, as this has a strong tendency to 
form air-bells, which may not be noticed in time to prevent 
them from leaving a mark. To avoid these, if the plate must 
be wetted, it should be placed under a strong flow of water 
from the tap for a minute or two. The force of the water acts 
as a guarantee against the adhesion of any air-bells; and 
there are circumstances in which the preliminary wetting of 
the plate may prove advantageous, as for example, when a 
large plate has to be developed with a very small quantity 
of solution. The quantity of liquid required to develop a plate 
is governed more by the nature of the dish than by the 
chemical requirements of the film. A dish with an irregular 
bottom, or one which bends in the hand, takes much more 
liquid than a rigid dish with a smooth bottom, little larger 
than the plate itself. An ounce for each quarter-plate may be 
f aken as approximately correct. 


132 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Even in so simple an operation as the pouring on of the 
developer, there is plenty of room to make mistakes. The 
developer should not be allowed to stand in the measure for 
more than a minute or two before it is wanted, as with some 
waters a scum is formed on the top, which, when poured on 
to the plate, adheres to the film in parts and is some little 
time before it washes off. It will not be noticed at the time, 
but afterwards it will be found to have held back development 
a little, and so to have marked the negative in a way which 
is incurable except by the most elaborate retouching. The 
liquid should not be splashed over the surface of the film, but 
holding the dish in the left hand and the graduated measure 
in the right, the side of the dish furthest from the body being 
higher than the other, the broad edge of the measure, not the 
lip, is put over the edge of the dish, at the left-hand corner, 
and then the measure is slid along to the other edge of the 
dish, raising it so that by the time it gets there it is empty. 
At the same time the dish has been brought level. The two 
actions are difficult to describe, but ridiculously easy to perform, 
and the result is that a smooth even wave of developer passes 
over the whole plate, pushing off any dust that may be on 
it, making no splash, and leaving no air-bells behind it. This 
may be tried in daylight once or twice first; and then its 
effectiveness will be seen. 

No plate, however the length of development is determined, 
ought to be exposed to the light of the dark room all the time. 
A cover fo r the dish may be extemporized from a piece of 
card, or a larger dish may be used, or a cover may be made 
and kept for the purpose. A flat board with a narrow ledge 
round it within which the cover fits, and a fillet about a quarter 
of an inch in depth and an inch wide running across the middle 
of its under side, makes it very easy to rock the dish without 
having to hold it in the hand to do so. 

As the addition of bromide to a developer is a thing to 
be deprecated, and as the action of development leads to the 
formation of bromide in the solution, the prolonged use of 
the developer is not to be recommended at any time. In 
certain cases, such as that of bromide paper, where the 
developer is one with a high development factor, and there¬ 
fore very little affected by small quantities of bromide, and 



VENICE—EARLY MORNING 


BY R. CHILD BAYLEY 








DEVELOPMENT 


133 


where the developer is plentiful and strong while the film 
itself is thin and not so rich in silver as a plate, it is found 
economical and harmless to use the same developer over 
and over again ; until, in fact, we are warned by the colour 
of the prints, to change it for fresh. But in negative work, 
it is a poor economy, both because of the uncertain composition 
of the solution and because of the greatly increased risks of 
staining the film. 

After development and before fixing, the negative should 
be slightly washed. If development has been determined by 
the eye, the backing will have been removed from a backed 
plate already. Some workers wash it off before starting to 
develop, and thereby introduce the risk of air-bells on the 
surface of the film, to v/hich reference has already been made. 
In time development, whether by the Watkins method or pure 
and simple, the backing may be left to come off, or at least 
to soften in the development and fixing. A common plan for 
those who do not use time development, is to wait until the 
image is well out on the plate, and then to remove the backing 
under the tap, replacing the plate in the solution to finish 
developing. No harm is done by the intermediate washing. 
To get rid of the backing the plate should be held, back 
downwards, with a gentle stream from the tap running into 
the centre of the film. A nail brush or a rag may be used 
to rub the underneath side, to dislodge any backing that may 
remain, which will then be carried off by the water. If the 
plate is held back upwards, the water carries the backing on 
to the film. Though many photographers take a negative 
straight out of the developer, and put it into the hypo, there 
is always a risk of marks and stains when so doing; some 
developers being particularly prone to cause them. It is well 
known that a developer coming into contact with a solution 
which contains a silver salt is liable to give rise to metallic 
marks in the film and to the once common, but now almost 
unknown defect, dichroic fog. The film of a plate put straight 
into hypo while full of developer gives precisely the conditions 
required for the production of such fog. Hence arises the 
necessity for a preliminary wash, which need only be a rinse 
under the tap for half a minute, but should not be omitted. 

Only two forms of fixing bath have any wide popularity, 


134 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the plain hypo solution and acid hypo. For negatives, a 
solution of four ounces of hypo in a pint of water answers 
every purpose. It ought to be made up some time before 
use, to get to the temperature of the rest of the solu¬ 
tion, as when hypo dissolves, the solution becomes for the 
time being very cold. Hypo is decomposed by almost all 
acids, with the formation of sulphur. Sulphurous acid is an 
exception ; and as sulphurous acid has powerful anti-staining 
properties, many like to have it present in the fixing bath. 
Such a bath is known as an acid-fixer. The simplest way to 
make it would be to add the sulphurous acid direct, but the 
acid is not a very pleasant compound to have about. As a 
substitute, therefore, it has been customary to recommend 
making a solution of sulphurous acid by adding sulphuric acid 
to a solution of sodium sulphite, and adding this. The sulphite 
and the sulphuric acid must not be added separately to the 
hypo, or the acid will at once decompose it. They must first 
be mixed. For this purpose the following formula will be 
found effective:— 

Sodium sulphite (crystals)... • •• ••• ••• i lb. 

Sulphuric acid ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 2 ozs« 

W ^tcr ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• <«• So ozs. 

One ounce of this solution is added for every two ounces of 
hypo in the bath. A simpler plan is to add two drams of 
potassium metabisulphite to the bath, to each pound of hypo. 
As the metabisulphite is a strongly acid salt, in fact, sulphurous 
acid can be recognized in it by the smell alone, this requires 
the addition of no sulphuric acid as the sulphite does. In 
making up the solution of sulphite and sulphuric acid just 
described, it is important not to increase the quantity of the 
acid, as free sulphuric acid in the fixing bath would be most 
injurious. 

Whether plain hypo or an acid fixer should be used for 
negatives is largely a matter of opinion. There ought to be no 
difference in the cleanliness of the negatives ; but those who are 
at all troubled with stains or scum marks will find the acid- 
hypo, if not a complete preventive, at least a palliative. It is 
much more expensive than the plain hypo. It does not dis¬ 
colour in use; but this is not an unmixed good, as it may lead 


DEVELOPMENT 


135 


to the fixing bath being kept and used after it is actually too 
exhausted to ensure complete fixation. This leads us to consider 
the manner of its action on a plate. 

If we take a negative, and, watching it carefully, remove it 
from the hypo as soon as the white appearance at the back has 
gone, wash it, dry it, and place it in a strong light, as would be 
the case if we were going to print from it, the film will in time 
turn brown, probably only in patches, and the negative will be 
ruined. If we had left the negative in the hypo for twice as 
long, this would not have occurred. The function of the hypo 
is to dissolve the silver bromide and iodide left in the film and 
unused in the formation of the image. Hypo acts upon these 
silver salts immediately, forming salts known as silver thio¬ 
sulphates. These salts are not readily soluble in water, but are 
soluble in a solution of hypo. The sign that they have been 
formed is the disappearance of the creamy bromide and iodide 
in the film, best seen at the back of the plate; but this dis¬ 
appearance is only a sign that the first stage of the fixing is 
complete. The thiosulphate is formed, but it is still in the 
film, and has got to be removed, and its removal must be 
effected by the solution of hypo itself. For this reason, there¬ 
fore, the common rule is to leave a plate in the fixing bath as 
long as is required to get rid of the creamy appearance, and as 
long again. It is a safe rule, and, in the absence of any other 
indication to guide us, is the best we can do. But it is purely 
empirical. 

We have already seen that acids, except sulphurous acid, 
decompose hypo. The same decomposition is caused by alum, 
but more slowly. This decomposition is a very dangerous 
one to the stability of the image in both negatives and prints, 
and is a thing to be guarded against by all who wish their 
photographs to last longer than a few months. For this reason, 
then, alum and hypo, except when their mutual action is 
employed deliberately for toning, as will be described later, 
must be kept strictly separate. In hot climates and under 
trying conditions generally, gelatine plates and films may trill 
and blister. The remedy usually suggested is an alum bath, 
and alum certainly hardens the gelatine and renders it less 
susceptible to such defects; but carelessly used, the alum may 
cause troubles worse than it prevents. Stains and blotches, 


156 


T1IE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


which may only appear some time after the negative is finished, 
form one of its manifestations. A worse, and totally incurable 
defect, is a patch of a light colour, best seen from the glass 
side, looking for all the world as if the plate were insufficiently 
fixed, but resisting the most prolonged action of hypo. Both 
are caused by putting a film containing alum into a solution of 
hypo, or vice versd. No harm results if the alum is washed out 
before the plate is put in the hypo, or if the hypo is removed 
before the alum bath is applied. 

In temperate climates, if there is much trouble from frilling 
or blistering, it is far better not to attempt to correct it by 
means of alum or other hardening agents, but to discover the 
cause and remove it. A great difference between the tempera¬ 
ture of the different solutions in which the plate is put will 
cause it. A caution has already been given against the cold 
water pipe to the dark room being led for any distance side by 
side with a hot water pipe. The writer knew of a case where 
this occurred and gave rise to persistent frilling, although the 
temperature of the water was never high enough to be noticed. 
In another instance, the relief pipe of a hot water heating 
apparatus discharged into a cold water tank from which the 
dark-room supply was drawn, and caused countless failures, 
until they were finally traced to their source. Another factor 
which may tend to produce frilling, is the employment of a 
developer containing caustic alkali, or even a great quantity of 
carbonate. Hydrokinone is sometimes employed with caustic 
soda or potash as the alkali, and these have a great softening 
effect on the film of gelatine. So has ammonia. Careless 
handling of the edges of the plate during development may 
lead to frilling, and if a large plate has been unskilfully cut up, 
that, too, may bring it about. 

After fixing, it only remains to get rid of the hypo in the 
film for the negative to be finished. This is done by washing. 
Important as is thorough washing, thorough fixing is still more 
so, and repeated experiments have shown that a plate that is 
completely fixed will carry a good deal of hypo in its film 
without being seriously affected thereby. At the same time, 
every negative should be thoroughly washed, both to ensure its 
permanence and to allow of the application to it of other 
processes, such as intensification or reduction, with either of 


DEVELOPMENT 


137 

which the presence of even a trace of hypo would be most 
detrimental. The importance of the washing process has led 
to the most exaggerated and mistaken ideas of the time which 
should be devoted to it, and of the method of carrying it out. 
It has also led to the introduction of chemical “hypo-elimi¬ 
nators ” intended to decompose the last traces of hypo in the 
film and so render them harmless. The worst of it is, that the 
hypo itself is harmless until decomposed ; and, in some cases, 
at any rate, the product of the decomposition of the hypo is 
certainly more deleterious than the unaltered salt itself. The 
best hypo-eliminator is water, and it can do its work completely 
in half an hour. 

Let us suppose for a moment that we have a negative which 
we wish to wash as quickly as possible, but wish also to be 
confident that the washing has been thorough. On taking it 
from the hypo, it is rinsed under the tap and placed in a dish 
of water. At the end of two minutes it is taken out and stood 
up to drain, while the dish is rinsed out and filled with clean 
water. The drained plate is put into it for another two 
minutes, again put up to drain and the dish rinsed and refilled. 
At the end of half an hour the negative will have had about 
ten changes, and, as has been shown by the work of MM. 
Lumiere and Seyewetz, is as completely freed from hypo as is 
reasonably possible—quite as completely as is demanded to 
ensure permanence. 

The use of “hypo-eliminators,” as they are called, seems to 
be very tempting to some, on account of the supposed saving of 
trouble and of washing water. There is no doubt, however, 
that if the washing is carried out in dishes, as directed above, 
it will be no more trouble, and certainly will use no more 
water, than any process involving the application of chemicals 
to destroy the hypo. Because whatever is used we must get 
rid of the products of the destroying action by washing. A 
saturated solution of alum applied for an hour or two is said to 
get rid of the hypo \ but as the action of the alum is practi¬ 
cally that which the photographer fears if hypo is left in the 
film, the remedy is worse than the disease. Sodium hypo¬ 
chlorite, potassium persulphate, and hydrogen peroxide have 
all been recommended, but are of very doubtful efficacy. Lately 
the use of water just tinged pink with potassium permanganate 


138 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


has been suggested. This is employed instead of plain water 
for washing. The hypo destroys the pink colour, and so is 
known to be eliminated when the characteristic tint of the 
permanganate solution remains after the liquid has been in 
contact with the plate for a minute or two. The solution 
must not be strongly coloured, or the negative may be stained. 
If it is stained, it is best to finish the washing and then to 
immerse the negative in a two per cent, solution of oxalic acid 
until all the stain has gone, and then to wash it again to remove 
the acid. 

Though the advice is often given to wash in running water 
a negative that is wanted in a hurry, it is very doubtful 
whether the method described in a preceding paragraph is 
not more effective, in the same time, than placing the negative 
under the tap would be. It is not so much the constant 
changing of the water as the thorough draining in between 
each change which is so effective in getting rid of the hypo. 
Careful experiments have shown that popular ideas as to 
the efficacy of rinsing are mistaken. We fill a glass with a 
solution of some salt or other, empty it out, rinse it a few times 
in clean water, and assume that by so doing we have got rid 
of the saline matter. But it is by no means the case ; and the 
solution will be found to cling to the glass, and by delicate 
chemical tests to be present in quite appreciable quantity after 
the rinsing. If this is so with the smooth polished surface of a 
glass, how much more is it to be expected in the case of the 
spongy absorbent film of gelatine? If we could squeegee it 
between each rinse we could accelerate washing, but the film is 
too tender for that. 

Cut films are not easily washed in the same apparatus that 
is used for plates, as, unless they are exceptionally stiff, they 
will not remain in the grooves like a glass plate. Two, back 
to back, may be placed in the grooves if they are fairly stiff, 
and have a piece of glass between them. Or they may be 
washed in a dish like prints. They can also be washed by 
suspension in a tank. A long length of roll film may have 
one or two split shot (which are supplied at any fishing tackle 
warehouse) nipped at intervals of a few inches along the edge. 
Along the opposite edge are placed small corks, the cork being 
slit with a sharp knife, and the extreme edge of the film slipped 



NOVEMHER 


BY FRED JUDGE 











































































































DEVELOPMENT 


139 


*n. Such an arrangement will float vertically in a large vessel 
of water; the domestic bath answers excellently. If there is 
a depth of a foot or so below the film, and it has been rinsed 
once or twice before immersion, and is rinsed once or twice 
afterwards, two changes of the water in the bath at intervals 
of an hour will wash the films effectively. Another plan is to 
fasten the film with drawing pins to the surface of a board, 
and float that on the water, film downwards. As there is a 
gelatine coating on both sides of non-curling “ roll ” film, the 
film should not be fastened flat to the board, but bowed so 
that the water has access to the back also. The image-bearing 
film must be outwards of course. Films that have been cut 
up can be washed by inserting one edge in a slit in a cork, and 
floating them in a vessel of water. 

If we examine the surface of a negative after it comes from 
the washing water, we are almost certain to find it covered with 
a whitish deposit, or with a scum—the former when the wash¬ 
ing water is hard, the latter when it is soft. It will not do 
any great harm if it is left on, but it is easily removed by 
holding the plate, film upwards, under the tap, and rubbing 
the surface gently with a mop of cotton wool. This certainly 
improves the appearance of the finished negative. It may then 
be dried. The grooved racks which are sold for drying nega¬ 
tives are very convenient, but on no account must a plate be 
put in each pair of grooves. The grooves, as a rule, are far 
too close together for this to be done. An inch or more at 
the very least should separate the plates, if they are half plates 
or smaller, while if they are larger this distance should be 
increased. Drying must not take too long, nor must it be 
irregular. The wet film is an ideal culture ground for bacilli 
and mould, and defects in negatives have been directly traced 
to such causes. The sooner the plate is dry, therefore, the 
better Before standing the plates in the rack, the glass side 
should be wiped dry with a clean cloth. Drying is hastened 
by taking up from time to time with a strip of blotting paper 
the drop of water that collects at the bottom corner. It might 
be worth mentioning for those who suffer from the insects, 
that “ black beetles ” regard the damp gelatine film of a nega¬ 
tive as a particular delicacy. 

The rate at which the film dries has a distinct effect upon 


CHAPTER XII 


INTENSIFICATION AND REDUCTION 


Intensification—Different processes required by different forms of thinness—Fog— 
Different reduction methods—Wellington’s silver process—Mercury-ammonia—■ 
Mercury-ferrous-oxalate—Chromium intensification — Mercuric iodide—Monck- 
hoven’s intensifier—Ferricyanide and hypo—Ammonium persulphate—All such 
processes are only makeshifts. 

T HE finished negative may or may not be precisely what 
we require. If it is not, there are a number of processes 
at our command by which it can be modified. Some of these are 
chemical, and are applied usually, though not necessarily, to 
the whole negative ; others are mechanical, and lend themselves 
particularly to local application. If the negative is too thin to 
print by the process we propose to adopt, it can be intensified ; 
if it is too dense, it can be reduced. There are several reliable 
methods at our command in either case. No methods have been 
the subject of more complete misunderstanding than those of 
intensification and reduction. It is customary to say that if 
the negative is too thin it can be intensided, to give one or two 
methods of intensification, and there to leave it Reduction is 
treated in the same v/ay. The fact is that thinness may be due 
to one of several causes, and each particular kind of thinness 
must be dealt with in a particular way if it is to be remedied. 
Some methods of intensification applied to some thin negatives 
might make the last state of those negatives worse than the 
first, although in other cases the method might be most 
valuable. Before anything is done, therefore, either in the way 
of intensification or of reduction, it is most important to 
diagnose correctly the shortcoming of the negative. 

Taking first the case of negatives that are too thin to give 
a good print, there are three distinct causes for such thinness, 
and these demand three distinctly different remedies. 

142 



THE NEW SONG 


BY E. T. HOLDING 








INTENSIFICATION AND REDUCTION 


143 


The first cause is under development. The negative has 
been correctly exposed, but was taken out of the developer too 
soon. If such a negative is placed face downwards on a sheet 
of white paper—its edges should be quite clean—there should be 
some signs of an image in the deepest shadows, and there should 
be distinct difference of gradation right from the shadows to 
the highest lights, although these differences are not great 
enough to give as vigorous a print as can be desired. It may 
have been over-exposed and under-developed, a very common 
defect, since it follows inevitably, if the Watkins factorial 
method of development is applied to an over-exposed plate ; 
and most workers who do not adopt time development under¬ 
develop over-exposed plates from inability, from excessive 
density, to see how development is progressing, or from a 
desire to avoid halation. Whether the plate is correctly or is 
over-exposed, the thinness is due to insufficient development, 
and the remedy is the same. What is wanted is intensification 
as far as possible in proportion to the amount of deposit 
already in the film. The best intensification for such negatives 
is by Wellington’s silver method, but the ordinary mercuric 
chloride, followed by ammonia or by ferrous oxalate, will be 
found to answer. In the case of over-exposed plates the 
mercuric chloride and ammonia is better than the others, but 
the difference is not very marked. Another remedy is 
what is sometimes called “ chromium intensification.” If the 
image on a negative is bleached in an acidified solution of 
potassium bichromate, washed, and then darkened by the 
application of any ordinary non-staining developer, in daylight, 
the negative is intensified. A convenient strength of solution is 
one containing five grains of bichromate and one minim of 
hydrochloric acid to the ounce. The ordinary amidol developer 
used for bromide points makes a very good darkening agent. 

Thinness may be due to under-exposure. It is often said 
that under-exposure causes harshness or excessive contrast in a 
negative, but this is a complete mistake. The harshness is due 
to over-development, that operation having been carried on too 
long, with the mistaken notion that perhaps it might bring 
out detail in the shadows. It never does; the result being 
merely to make it more difficult than it otherwise would be, to 
botch up some decently printable negative on the under¬ 
exposed plate. Those who doubt this can soon set theii 


144 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


minds at rest on the subject by trying the experiment of ex¬ 
posing three plates on the same subject, giving one a correct 
exposure, and the other two what is a very decided under¬ 
exposure, but giving the same to both. One of the under¬ 
exposed plates and the correctly exposed plate are developer 
side by side for the same length of time, the time being th» 
required to give the negative desired on the plate that was 
correctly exposed. The remaining plate may be developed as 
far as possible, in the hope of bringing out detail. Of the two 
developed together, the correctly exposed plate in every respect 
will have more deposit and more contrast than the under¬ 
exposed plate, showing that under-exposure does not lead to 
harshness or to excessive contrast, but the reverse. The other 
plate will doubtless be very harsh ; and it will be difficult, if not 
impossible, to make as good a negative from it as from the 
under-exposed plate which was developed with the correctly 
exposed one. Thinness, therefore, may be due to under¬ 
exposure. In such a case the best treatment is intensification 
with mercuric iodide. If mercuric chloride is used, printing 
density can be obtained, but the print will have all the 
characteristics of a print from an under-exposed negative ; 
with mercuric iodide, and to some extent with the Wellington 
intensifier, signs of under-exposure are less noticeable. 

The third cause of thinness is extreme flatness in the subject. 
The silver intensifier will be found much the best for this. This 
cause of thinness is the least likely to arise, as in the very 
great majority of the subjects with which photographers, 
especially amateur photographers, are likely to deal, the 
subjects are such as to yield negatives of ample contrast on 
the plates on the market. 

There is little profit in trying to intensify plates that are 
noticeably fogged. The fog being of the same composition as 
the image, it is intensified at the same time, and before the 
action has been carried far enough to improve the negative 
materially, the fog has intensified to such an extent as to make 
it unprintable. 

There are some photographers who claim to be able to 
improve negatives which are both thin and foggy, by reducing 
them first, to remove the fog, and then intensifying to obtain 
contrast. On paper this looks very satisfactory ; but although 


INTENSIFICATION AND REDUCTION 


145 


the author has tried it repeatedly on negatives which looked 
most favourable for the experiment, it has never resulted in 
a negative that was in a noticeable degree an improvement 
on the original. There is a method—Monckhoven’s—which 
improves such negatives a little, as it has a slight reducing 
action on the thin parts as well as an intensifying one elsewhere, 
and this offers the best chance, though a feeble one at best, of 
making a negative that is both thin and foggy into one that 
will give a fairly good print. 

Reduction is the reverse of intensification, and resembles it 
in this respect, that it is necessary to diagnose the cause of the 
over density which we desire to reduce, before we can decide 
which reduction method to apply. Over density may be due 
to over development, or it may be due to fog. For fog, such a 
reducer is needed as shall take the same quantity of the deposit 
off the shadows and the high lights alike. As this form of 
reduction does not have any great effect on the contrast 
obtained finally in the print, and only lessens the time which 
the negative takes to print, it is very seldom that its use is 
justifiable. It is risky, because if reduction is carried on beyond 
the stage at which all the fog is removed, and it is not always 
easy to tell when this stage has been reached, it begins to 
destroy the gradation on the negative, and no after process can 
remedy this. Its action, in short, is to make a negative 
obtained with correct exposure resemble an under-exposed one. 
Potassium ferricyanide and hypo is the most generally used 
reducer of this type. 

Reduction of this type may sometimes be applied with 
advantage in the form of a momentary treatment to remove 
surface stains and clear up a negative generally; but it must be 
momentary, and must err on the side of incompleteness to 
make sure that it is not overdone. It is sometimes applied 
with advantage to lantern-slides to clear them; but the 
conditions then are altogether different. 

When reduction is to be used as a remedy for over-develop¬ 
ment, a process is needed which will reduce the silver deposit— 
not equally all over—but in proportion to the quantity of 
deposit present in the different tones. For this purpose, a 
solution of ammonium persulphate must be used. It is best 
freshly made, and after it has been applied for three or four 
L 


146 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


minutes, it should be poured off, the negative washed, and a 
fresh lot applied if need be. A weak sodium sulphite bath 
should be given, after reduction is seen to have gone far enough, 
followed by a thorough washing. 

The negative to be reduced or intensified must first in every 
case be thoroughly fixed and well washed. All negatives 
take these processes more easily if they are applied before 
drying. On the other hand, the application of the solution 
has a softening action on the gelatine, and may lead to 
frilling ; drying between washing and the after processes helps 
very greatly to prevent this. If the negative has been varnished, 
the varnish must be removed by means of a suitable solvent. 
Shellac varnishes, such as those which require heat for their 
application, are made with alcohol and can be removed by means 
of methylated spirit. The negative is placed in the spirit for a 
minute or two and gently rubbed with cotton-wool. It is then 
taken out, drained, and put in fresh spirit, being rubbed with a 
clean piece of wool. After a minute or two, it is again drained 
and placed in a third bath in the same way. It is then rinsed 
under the tap and allowed to soak for half an hour or so in 
clean water. The spirit, after use, may be employed in lamps; 
but holds too much solid matter for most other purposes. If 
the varnish has been a celluloid one, acetone or amyl acetate 
must be used in the same way to remove it. 

Nothing would be gained by giving particulars of other 
intensifiers and reducers, which are numerous enough, as their 
action is not markedly different from those dealt with in this 
chapter, which should be more than sufficient for all the possible 
requirements of the photographer. He will do better still if he 
determines to do without them entirely, relying in every case 
upon correct exposure and correctly timed development to give 
him the negative which he requires. No reduced or intensified 
negative is so good as one produced by the operation of develop¬ 
ment alone. They are all only means for making the best of a 
bad job, and although they will work wonders in the way of im¬ 
provement, the result will never be perfect. All said and done, 
they only act as effective remedies at all in the case of errors in 
development. As for plates which have been over or under 
exposed, they are best reduced—with a hammer. 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE HAND-CAMERA 

Detective cameras—Hand or stand type—The development of the hand-camera—The 
first “Kodak”—Shutter regulation—Lenses—Fixed focus—Focussing arrange¬ 
ments—What is sharpness?—“ Infinity”—The hyperfocal distance—Magnifiers 
—Finders—Efficiency of shutters—The most useful speeds—Folding pocket- 
cameras—The reflex—Releases—Levels—Plate—and film-holding devices— 
Making the exposure—Judging distances—Pictorial photography and the hand- 
camera—A travel companion—Exposures for different classes of subjects— 
“ Press-the-button ” photographers. 

W HEN the extraordinary sensitiveness of the gelatine dry 
plate was realized by photographers, it became evident 
that a great many subjects could be photographed with so short 
an exposure that it was possible to hold the camera steady 
enough for the purpose in the hands, without any stand at all, 
and apparatus designed for use in this way soon made its 
appearance. In those (photographically) far-distant days such 
machines were called “detective” cameras. The popular press to 
this day has not got rid of the fallacies based on such a name, and 
one still finds both in avowed and in unavowed fiction accounts 
of the camera being of service in detecting the villain in cir¬ 
cumstances which a very little photographic knowledge would 
have shown made photography impossible. By way of bring¬ 
ing things up to date, the hand-camera sometimes becomes a 
kinematograph. It is not so long since we read of a murderer 
who was convicted and punished on the evidence of a kine¬ 
matograph machine which “ happened to be working at the 
time.” “ Detection,” however, is not the metier of the hand- 
camera, but rather what has been termed “ spur-of-the-moment ” 
photography; and a hand-camera to-day is a piece of photo¬ 
graphic apparatus designed throughout to allow the user to 
photograph anything which he wishes to record with as few 
and as brief preliminaries as possible. Although, usually, this 

i47 


148 THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 

implies that the camera will be held in the hand, not used on a 
stand, it by no means follows that this is necessarily the case. 
Almost every hand-camera now made is provided with fittings 
to allow it to be used on a stand, but it does not follow that it is 
a “ stand-camera ” in consequence. A popular type, the “ fold¬ 
ing hand-or-stand ” camera, as its name suggests, embodies the 
requirements of both ; but a hand-camera may be capable of 
being used on a stand and still not be a “ hand-or-stand 
camera. 

The way in which the hand-camera has developed from the 
stand-camera is easily seen. The characteristic of the latter is 
its focussing screen, which occupies the place to be taken by 
the plate, and on which the subject is both arranged and 
focussed. This is out of the question in any hand-camera; so 
in place of it we have one or more finders by which the extent 
of subject to be included in the picture is ascertained, and either 
a separate focussing arrangement, as in instruments of the reflex 
type, or a scale by which the camera may be set for objects 
at some definite distance. The hand-camera must have some 
kind of shutter; but the essential difference between the hand 
and the stand types lies in the fact that in the latter the focussing 
screen is used in the actual position subsequently occupied by 
the sensitive surface, which is not the case with a hand-camera. 

Since the early days of the hand-camera an immense change 
has come over the photographic world. At first it was regarded 
as a toy, and one often heard the phrase “ Only a hand-camera.” 
Then special classes for hand-camera work were arranged at the 
exhibitions, classes in which it seemed to be an understood 
thing that the standard should be lower than it was in the 
others. Gradually this changed, as the powers of the instru¬ 
ment were increased by improvements in its design, and photo¬ 
graphers began to master its possibilities, until now one hardly 
ever hears of any such distinction ; the ablest workers use the 
hand-camera, and the only way by which there is much chance 
of distinguishing between hand- and stand-camera work is that 
the former can deal successfully with problems which with the 
latter are impossible. 

The first hand-cameras were made to take plates; then 
came the earliest “ Kodak,” which was designed for use with 
paper coated with the same emulsion as was used on glass 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


149 


plates; the substitution of celluloid for the paper followed, and 
then a number of rivals of celluloid made their appearance. 
Stouter celluloid was also used in cut pieces in place of plates. 
Then came the daylight-loading film cartridge, a resuscitation 
of a device used with the sensitive papers of almost fifty years 
before; and then, when the use of the stouter cut films in hand- 
camera work had almost ceased, the film pack was introduced, 
holding a dozen thin cut films in such a way that they could be 
loaded into the camera and unloaded in full daylight. Then 
again the first hand-cameras had some simple sliding or rotating 
plate as the shutter; this in turn was supplanted to a great 
extent by the roller-blind shutter, now almost obsolete once 
more as far as hand-cameras are concerned, except in the 
highly specialized form of the focal-plane shutter. The early 
metal shutters had no regulation at all; the notion that it was 
just as necessary to “ time ” a shutter exposure as one made by 
hand came later. When it did come, shutters were slowed 
down by friction brakes, or by altering the dimensions of the 
shutter-opening, or by varying the tension of the driving spring. 
The greatest advance in shutter construction was the introduc¬ 
tion of pneumatic control, by which the time of exposure was 
governed by the rate at which air was allowed to leak out of a 
cylinder connected with the shutter mechanism. Except in 
the case of the focal-plane shutter, all the best instruments now 
made have pneumatic control. 

Such were the stages in the evolution of the modern hand- 
camera. The box form, which was that first used, persists to 
this day, in spite of its bulkiness. In fact some of the latest 
designs are some of the bulkiest, the user of the reflex being 
willing to accept the drawbacks of bulk and weight in return for 
the undoubted advantages conferred by that type. There has 
been much ingenuity bestowed upon the design of extremely 
portable folding cameras, some of these being marvels of com¬ 
pactness ; but these are mere concession*; to comfort and 
luxury, and do not have much bearing on the technical side 
of the instrument. While the special features of the hand- 
camera have been worked out and improved, there has gone 
on the improvement in lenses and the increased sensitiveness 
of plates, which has been referred to elsewhere. On no form 
of photographic work have these two lines of advance had 


150 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


greater influence. They have had the effect of transferring 
into the sphere of the hand-camera many subjects which a 
few years ago would have have been considered as outside its 
scope, and have played quite as large a part in the development 
of hand-camera work, if not indeed a larger one, than the im¬ 
provements in the instrument itself. 

It is rightly considered that the most important feature of 
the hand-camera is the lens, and in no branch of photography 
can money be laid out to greater advantage in obtaining an in¬ 
strument of the best class. In writing thus, we do not suggest 
that excellent work cannot be done with quite simple and low- 
priced apparatus—the possibility of this has already been shown 
—but the capability of dealing with a large variety of subjects 
and of working under unfavourable conditions is bound up with 
the use of a large-aperture anastigmat of high quality. When 
a lens of comparatively long focus is to be used, say for 
example a io- or 12-inch lens on a quarter-plate, the difference 
between an anastigmat and a rectilinear may not be notice¬ 
able, when both are used at F/8, or thereabouts; but if it is a 
5- instead of a 12-inch that is used, the superiority of the 
definition given by the anastigmat towards the edges of the field 
is very evident. It is not only that the anastigmat works at a 
larger aperture, although that, of course, is often very valuable, 
but that at the same aperture its marginal definition is so much 
superior. The actual increase in rapidity is often neutralized by 
the want of depth of focus when such large apertures are used, 
and by the difficulty of focussing accurately by scale. Many a 
hand-camera worker has gone from a simple rectilinear working 
at F/8 to a high-class anastigmat at F/6, and to his surprise has 
found that the definition of his photographs is worse instead 
of better. He has to learn to use the more rapid lens more 
accurately, and to realize that whereas there are many subjects 
for which it is invaluable, there are many others with whiqh it 
must be stopped down to F/8, or less, if the definition of both 
near and distant objects is to be equally good. That the better 
lens gives him greatly increased powers, if he knows how to 
utilize them, there can be no doubt at all. 

In the very simplest forms of hand-camera there are no 
focussing arrangements at all; the apparatus is of the type 
known as “ fixed focus.” That is to say the lens is fixed at 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


151 


such a distance from the plate or film that subjects of the 
kind most likely to be photographed will be fairly sharp. We 
shall see later on how this is possible. It is not a merit, but a 
defect of the apparatus. Any one who does not wish to have 
to focus can convert his camera into one of “ fixed focus ” with 
a nail and a hammer, or can work on such lines by the still 
simpler method of not focussing ; he will then have the advan¬ 
tages of fixed focus, such as they are, together with all the 
possibility of focussing as soon as he learns how much is to 
be gained by doing so. To work at “fixed focus” the camera 
must be set so that very distant objects are focussed almost 
but not quite sharply, the sharpest definition being on some¬ 
thing nearer. The largest size of camera with which fixed- 
focus work is at all practicable is quarter-plate ; and a 5-1‘nch 
lens working at F/n on this size should be focussed on an 
object in the middle of the field about 20 feet away. 
When so set, it will be found that everything 10 feet or more 
from the camera is fairly sharp, as long as it is near the centre 
of the picture. The definition towards the edges will depend 
quite as much on the quality of the lens as on the distance of 
the object, and cannot be specified beforehand. With cameras 
smaller than quarter-plate, fixed-focus work is more satis¬ 
factory, as, other things being equal, the smaller the picture 
the easier it is to get near and distant objects sharp at the 
same time. But where the photographer expects to be able 
to enlarge the best of his negatives, he will find that even with 
very small sizes the “ fixed focus ” type of apparatus is not 
satisfactory; and all the best of modern cameras, however 
small the picture obtained, are now provided with some method 
of adjustment for focussing. 

The commonest focussing device is by means of a scale and 
pointer. The user estimates the distance of the object which 
he wishes to have in the sharpest focus, and sets the camera 
accordingly. This is usually done by racking the front in or 
out ; but in some cases it is the lens only which moves, being 
fixed in a tube provided with a screw thread of great pitch, 
so that on rotating the tube it moves backwards or forwards. 
In one case at least focussing is effected by altering the sepa¬ 
ration of the different glasses composing the lens, and a very 
common plan is to focus by putting close in front of the lens 


152 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


proper an additional lens known as a “ magnifier.'’ The effect 
in each case is the same. The distance at which objects must 
be to be rendered sharply in the photograph is controlled; 
and it becomes of importance that the photographer shall know 
something of “ depth of focus.” 

If we select some distant object so small that its image in 
the camera is a mere point of light, and focus it as sharply as 
we possibly can by means of a magnifying glass, we shall find 
that the focussing screen can be moved a little in either 
direction without the point becoming perceptibly fuzzy or 
indistinct, although when looked at with the magnifier it is 
seen to be so. As all focussing on subjects containing objects 
at different distances is a matter of compromise, it becomes 
necessary to know how much indistinctness is permissible. 
When a photograph is made to be looked at with the naked 
eye at a normal distance, and not to be peered into for fine 
details, it has been commonly accepted by opticians and photo¬ 
graphers that the image of such a point of light as we have 
just supposed may be widened or blurred until it is no longer 
a point, but a disc of a diameter of a hundredth of an inch, 
without being considered to be unsharp; on this basis tables 
of “ depth of focus ” have been worked out. They are said to 
be based on a “ circle of confusion ” of one-hundredth of an 
inch. As such tables of depth of focus are hardly ever used 
except in hand-camera work, and as almost all the best hand- 
camera work is subsequently enlarged, there seems to be no 
doubt now but that this commonly accepted permissible 
“ circle of confusion ” is decidedly too large, and that such 
tables call for revision on a stricter basis. 

We have seen in Chapter VII that the power of rendering 
sharply near and distant objects at the same time is not a 
thing which depends on the type of lens, but is governed by 
its focal length and by the size of the stop. “ Depth of focus ” 
—which should properly be termed “ depth of field,” but the 
former expression has been sanctioned by usage—can therefore 
be tabulated ; and when we know the focus of the lens and 
the F/- number of the stop which is going to be used in it, we 
can calculate the limits within which we may expect to get 
the image sharp, so far as that sharpness is affected by the 
distance of the object from the camera. Thus, for example, 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


153 


if we are using a lens of 6 inches focus with F/ii as its stop, 
and we focus sharply on an object 12 feet away, calculation 
shows us that all objects from a little more than 8 feet up 
to not more that 22 feet from the camera will be in 
sharp focus. One ought not ’to say “ in sharp focus ” to be 
strictly correct, but rather that they will not be blurred more 
than is represented by a “ circle of confusion ” of a diameter 
of one-hundredth of an inch. This will only hold good of the 
ideally perfect lens, and of objects in the centre of the picture ; 
but it is useful to know how far one may expect the “ depth 
of focus ” to extend, in order to know to what extent poorness 
of definition may be fairly attributed to imperfections of the lens. 

One soon finds on using a camera that a great deal more 
blur or out-of-focus effect is permissible with distant than with 
near objects. A hill in the background of a landscape may 
be rendered with a fuzziness that would be instantly noticeable 
and condemned in the leaves or grass of the foreground, with¬ 
out any one raising any objection or even becoming conscious 
that it is not sharp. In portraiture, too, the same thing is 
observable. So long as the most important features of the 
face are not blurred, a softening of the definition elsewhere 
may be allowed to pass, while some little diffusion of the back¬ 
ground is useful as helping to keep it properly subordinate 
to the figure. This, however, is a pictorial consideration, and 
is not one which could be allowed to enter into the calculation 
of depth of focus, although it must be given due weight when 
tables or focussing scales are being used. 

A moment’s examination of the focussing scale on a camera 
shows that the nearer the objects are to the camera the greater 
is the effect of any alteration in their distance. Thus, if an 
object 6 feet away is moved a couple of yards further, the 
movement of the lens that becomes necessary to bring it once 
more into focus is very much greater than if the object had 
been 20 yards away and had then been moved 2 yards, 
while beyond a certain point, known as the “ Infinity dis¬ 
tance,” no further increase in distance calls for any further ad¬ 
justment of the camera. In making a scale for a camera, the 
first point to decide is the position of the “Infinity” mark. 
In practice, this can be settled very easily if the camera can 
be fitted with a focussing screen for the time being. The lens 


154 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


is then turned on the most distant convenient object, anything 
more than three or four hundred yards away may be chosen, 
and this is focussed as sharply as possible. The position of 
the camera then will be at the true infinity mark ; and if we 
turn it from the object three or four hundred yards away to 
one more than two hundred thousand miles away, the moon to 
wit, we shall find that it also is sharp. Such a position is of 
little use to the photographer, however. We have just seen 
that a little blur in a distant object is permissible, but in a 
near object is at once noticeable ; so that instead of treating 
as “infinity” the point at which the most distant objects are 
at their greatest possible sharpness, the camera must be racked 
out a little, so as to transfer the distance of greatest sharpness 
to objects a little nearer. The image of the extreme distance 
is observed carefully while doing so, and as soon as the move¬ 
ment has gone as far as it can be carried without making that 
extreme distance too fuzzy, it is stopped. This is the point at 
which the working “ infinity ” mark should be placed, and an 
object which is then represented at its sharpest is said to be 
at the “ hyperfocal distance.” A very little experience with 
the camera will show that the “ hyperfocal distance ” varies 
with the length of focus of the lens, with the stop, and with 
the “circle of confusion ” which is permissible. 

The hyperfocal distance has this property also. If we focus 
very carefully on an object at the hyperfocal distance, the most 
distant objects will be just within the limits of permissible 
blurriness, and, in addition, all other objects up to a distance 
from the camera of one-half the hyperfocal distance will also 
be within those limits. Thus, for example, with a circle of 
confusion of one-hundredth of an inch, the hyperfocal distance 
of a 5-inch lens at F/8 is 26 feet. In other words, if we 
focus with such a lens on an object 26 feet away, every¬ 
thing more than half that distance, that is to say everything 
13 feet or more from the camera, right up to the most distant 
object possible, will be in focus. This must not be taken to 
mean that it will all be what the photographer calls “ dead 
sharp”; but it will all be within the limits of permissible 
blurring, which are laid down by saying that the “ circle of 
confusion ” does not exceed a hundredth of an inch in diameter. 

It is very easy to find out the hyperfocal distance by calcu- 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


155 


lation ; and as it will tell us other things about our apparatus 
which it is useful to know, we will see how it is done. First, 
we settle what shall be the permissible blur ; we will suppose 
this to be the usual “circle of confusion” of a hundredth of 
an inch. The focus of the lens in inches is squared, the result 
is multiplied by one hundred, and the product is then divided 
by the F/- number on the stop. The dividend is the hyper- 
focal distance in inches. Thus a io-inch lens at F/8 has a 
hyperfocal distance of io x 10 x 100-^-8 = 12507 inches 
= 104 feet 2 inches. If the circle of confusion is to have a 
diameter of 200 or 30U an i nc h> we multiply by 200 or 300 
instead of by 100. It is well to construct a depth-of-focus 
table for oneself for the lens in use, first finding the hyper¬ 
focal distance for each of the stops, or at least for each of 
the larger ones. It is not generally practicable to refer to 
such a table at the moment of making the exposure ; but it 
is valuable as showing what to expect. 

The limits of sharpness for each graduation of the scale 
can be calculated when the hyperfocal distance has been found. 
To find the limits, the hyperfocal distance in inches with the 
stop in use is multiplied by the distance in inches of the 
object focussed, or the distance for which the scale is set. 
The result so obtained is divided twice, first by the hyperfocal 
distance plus the distance focussed for, which will give us 
the nearest distance at which objects will be sharp, and then 
by the hyperfocal distance minus the distance focussed for, 
which will give us the furthest distance at which to expect 
sharpness. This will be made clearer, perhaps, by an example, 
and we will take for the purpose a 5-inch lens which has 
stops F/8 and F/11. The hyperfocal distance for these stops, 
calculated in the way just described will be found to be, for 
F/8—312 inches, and for F/11—220 inches. If, then, the scale 
on the camera is set at 9 feet (108 inches) we first multiply 
the hyperfocal distance by this. Taking F/8 first, the stages 
are as follows :— 

312 x 108 = 33696 
312 + 108 = 420 
312 — 108 = 204. 

Then 33696-F 420 = 80 inches = 6 feet 8 inches, 
and 33696 -T- 204 = 165 inches = 13 feet 4 inches. 


156 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


So that a 5-inch lens at F/8 focussed for 9 feet will give 
us everything sharp that is not nearer than 6 feet 8 inches 
or further than 13 feet 4 inches. Proceeding in the same 
way, we learn that on stopping down to F/11, keeping the 
indicator at the same point of the scale, we should get 
everything sharp up to 6 feet, and not more than 17 feet 
7 inches. 

It will usually be found that the “ infinity ” mark on most 
cameras is somewhere about the position for the hyperfocal 
distance with the largest stop ; but if we are making a scale 
for the camera it is useful to know the true “ infinity ” mark 
at least temporarily. If we find it by focussing some very 
distant object, and then, having marked it, we focus an object 
at the nearest point which we wish to have on the scale, we 
can interpolate other distances on the scale without refocussing. 
Thus, if we have the infinity mark and the 4-feet mark, a 
position midway between the two will be the point at which 
objects 8 feet away are in focus. Midway between that point 
and “infinity” will be the point at which objects 16 feet 
away are sharp, and midway between that and “ infinity,” 
32 feet. The results are not absolutely accurate, but are 
as near as are required. It will be found that for ordinary 
work, the most useful distances to have marked on the scale 
are 6, 9, 12, 18, 24 feet and “ Inf.,” which last should be the 
hyperfocal distance with the largest stop. 

The effect of adding to a photographic lens a supplementary 
lens or magnifier is to alter the focus of the combination. 
If the supplementary lens is actually a “magnifier” or positive 
lens, the sort of lens which is used in the spectacles of a 
“ far-sighted ” person, the focus is shortened ; if the added 
lens is a negative or diminishing lens, such as is used in 
spectacles for short sight, it lengthens the focus of the lens 
to which it is added. Both kinds of supplementary lenses 
are sold as “magnifiers.” So long as the added lens is not 
a very powerful one, or the combination is to be used with 
a small stop, there is no need for these “ magnifiers ” to be 
achromatic or compound lenses : a simple spectacle lens will 
suffice. But the best of them are achromatized. The usual 
place for a magnifier is just in front of the other lens, and 
as close to it as possible. It is easy to see how focussing 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


157 


is accomplished by such a lens. If the camera is one in 
which its lens is fixed at “ Infinity/’ any positive lens added 
to it will cause it to be focussed for an object distant from 
the camera, the focus of the added lens. If, for example, 
we have a magifier of 3 feet focus, and this is fitted close 
to a lens already focussed for infinity, we shall find that 
objects 3 feet away will be in sharp focus with the com¬ 
bination so formed. The addition of a negative lens has 
already been dealt with as telephotography; it is of no service 
for focussing a fixed lens, but is useful as a means of 
temporarily lengthening the focus ot a lens. 

A positive magnifier, added to another lens, shortens its 
focus to an extent which can be calculated when the focus 
of both lenses is already known. The focus of the combined 
lens is found by multiplying together the foci of the two 
lenses, and dividing the product by the sum of the foci with 
the separation subtracted. Thus, when a 12-inch magnifier 
is added to a 5-inch lens, the separation of the lenses 
being 1 inch, we have 

(12 x 5) -f- (12 + 5-1) == 60~ 16 = 3! 

So that a magnifier of 12 inches focus would reduce the focus 
of a 5-inch lens to 3f inches. When dealing with the com¬ 
paratively small and simple lenses used in this way for hand- 
camera work, this may be taken as giving a general idea 
of the result of using a magnifier, if the separation is taken 
to be 1 inch. For accurate results the separation must be 
the distance apart of the optical centres of the two lenses, 
which points may be outside the glasses composing them, 
and can only be found by a more or less elaborate trial. 

As the addition of a magnifier shortens the focus, it lessens 
the F/- numbers of the stops. If we halve the focus, F/8 
becomes F/4, for example. Therefore if a lens, after having 
a magnifier added, were refocussed on the same subject, the 
exposure required would be shortened, according to the new 
F/- values given to the stops. So long as magnifiers are used 
as a means of focussing near objects with cameras in which 
the distance between lens and plate is fixed, they do not 
affect the exposure, however, since any gain obtained by 
shortening the focus of the lens is neutralized by the fact 


158 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


that the object is so much nearer that the distance between 
the lens and plate remains the same. In other words, the 
condition under which a magnifier calls for an alteration of 
the exposure is the very condition which the magnifier is 
generally used to prevent. If, for some special purpose, a lens 
of greatly increased rapidity is needed, and one is willing to 
sacrifice some of the definition to get that rapidity, as is 
sometimes the case in night photography and similar work, 
a magnifier may be found useful by the way in which it 
shortens the focus, and so lessens the F/- number of the stops ; 
but it does not follow that every lens will stand the use of 
a magnifier that is powerful enough to be of much service, 
and this would have to be ascertained by trial. However, 
all this has no connection with hand-camera work. 

The finders with which a hand-camera is provided should 
enable us to see by a glance in them what we should get on 
a plate were it then to be exposed. This no finder can do 
with absolute accuracy in all circumstances, except the finder 
in a reflex camera, which, strictly speaking, is not a finder 
at all. Most users of hand-cameras expect altogether too 
much from a finder. Although many finders are by no means 
as accurate as they easily could be, it does not follow that, 
because there is a difference between the finder image and 
that which reaches the plate, that the finder is improperly 
fixed. Besides, it should not be forgotten that many modern 
hand-cameras are made in large quantities, and produced so 
that they can be sold at a price which is much less than it 
would cost not to make but simply to test the camera when 
made, if each was to be tested singly. The National Physical 
Laboratory will undertake to test a shutter, and charge for 
doing so what is a very moderate fee ; but the fee is not very 
much less than the price charged for a justly popular and 
very serviceable shutter, which is turned out thousands at a 
time. This applies all through with modern commercial 
articles manufactured in quantity; and the best way to deal 
with them is to take full advantage of the method of 
manufacture by buying at the low price which it makes possible, 
and then, as far as one can, to do the personal testing and 
adjustment oneself. This is certainly the case with the finders 
of a cheap hand-camera. When bought, the finder should 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


159 


be so fitted that a distant object, seen in the centre of the 
finder, will be shown in the centre of the negative. As far 
as distant objects are concerned, everything which is included 
on the plate should be included on the finder. More than that 
one is not likely to get. If, as is probable, the finder shows 
more than is obtained on the olate, this should be corrected 
by blocking out the excess on the finder with a little Brunswick 
black and a small brush. 

It is easy to see how a finder cannot possibly be accurate in 
all circumstances. The lens of the finder is not coincident with 
the camera lens. If we take as an exaggerated case an object 
only 2 or 3 inches away from the camera, it may entirely 
block up the finder and yet not be in the field of view of the 
lens at all, or vice versa. This would not be likely to occur in 
practice, but it serves to illustrate the point with a forcible 
example. The farther such an article is away from the camera 
the less is the difference between the finder and the lens images. 
If the camera has a rising front, as soon as this is brought into 
use the finder, if it is one of the ordinary type, like a little 
camera, becomes unreliable. It is not sufficient to mount it on 
the front, so that it rises with it; this makes practically no 
difference at all to the finder image. Some finders have been 
made with a rising front themselves, and a scale, so that this 
can be adjusted to the rise in the camera front; but this is 
a requirement which is easily overlooked in the hurry of using 
the camera on some rapidly changing subject. Others have 
marks upon them to indicate what is included and what is 
excluded when the rising front is used. 

A type of finder which has its admirers, although it is not 
at all popular amongst the generality of hand-camera workers, 
consists of a light metal frame provided with cross-wires and a 
piece of metal with a small eyehole in it. If the opening in the 
frame is the size of the plate, and the distance of the eyehole 
from the frame is equal to the focus of the lens, the two may be 
fitted on the top of the camera so that the eye placed at the 
eyehole sees approximately the same quantity of the subject, 
surrounded by the frame, as will fall on the plate. If the 
frame is fastened on the front so as to rise and fall with it, 
such a finder gives a truer indication than any other, except 
the reflex. This finder has only one drawback—it limits 


160 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the possible positions in which the camera may be held to those 
in which the eye can be applied to the eyehole; and these, as a 
rule, are not the positions for the steadiest holding’. On the 
other hand, it is the only type in which the camera gives con¬ 
veniently, and almost invariably, the view as the eye sees it— 
that is to say, from the height of the observer’s eye from the 
ground or thereabouts. It really deserves a much greater 
popularity than it has had. 

Those who use any other type ot finder, therefore, must 
be content to employ the finder as an approximate indicator 
only, and must not expect a degree of accuracy that we have 
seen to be impossible. An ample margin for contingencies 
should be left all round the subject, so that we may be certain 
of getting what is required somewhere on the plate. The print 
may then be trimmed to give the arrangement which is best. 
This is particularly the case with “ brilliant” finders, some forms 
of which show a different picture according to the position 
of the eye with regard to the finder, although all forms do 
not have this failing. Those who want to work very closely 
to the edge of the plate must use a reflector camera, which 
is the nearest approach to the ideal form of hand-camera, 
though of necessity the heaviest form and the most 
expensive. 

Instantaneous shutters are not limited exclusively to hand- 
cameras, but are best considered here, as with a hand-camera 
a shutter is a necessity. There are two principal forms—those 
which have one or more metal plates which pass across the lens, 
and those in which the moving part is a flexible blind on 
rollers. The latter type is at its best in the focal-plane shutter, 
so called because it lies almost in the focal plane of the lens— 
that is to say, as close as possible to the plate. This type 
generally can be made to give a higher speed than any other, 
and, ordinarily, a higher efficiency. 

The only other positions occupied by the roller-blind shutter 
are immediately before and immediately behind the lens. 
Neither position is a good one ; and, except for its cheapness 
and compactness, the roller-blind shutter would not be used 
except at the focal plane ; because it is not remarkably efficient 
elsewhere, and labours under the disadvantage that its speed is 
controlled by varying the tension of a spring, never a very satis- 



SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE 

BY PERCY LEWIS 



















THE HAND-CAMERA 


161 


factory method. As it is, the roller-blind shutter is, for stand- 
camera work, the most popular form of all. The blind requires 
attention from time to time, as long usage has a tendency 
to form pinholes in it. It is said that one or two small holes 
can be covered with black court-plaster, but a better plan would 
be to get a new blind as soon as a hole is noticed, since one is 
sure to be but the precursor of many. The roller-blind shutter, 
except in the focal-plane patterns, is not much used on hand- 
cameras. 

Most hand-cameras have metal shutters. The best position 
for these is between the combination of a doublet lens, or close 
to the stop of a single lens. Such shutters may either open and 
close from the centre, in which case while opening and closing 
they act more or less as a stop, or they may have an opening 
which passes across the lens. 

The term “ efficiency ” applied to a shutter refers to the 
intensity of the light admitted at different stages of the 
exposure. It is manifest that during a part of the ex¬ 
posure only part of the lens is uncovered ; some shutters, 
in fact, begin to cover up the lens again as soon as ever 
it is fully uncovered. The shutter of perfect efficiency 
would uncover the whole lens simultaneously and instantly, 
would allow it to remain fully open during the whole time 
of the exposure, and would then as instantly close it. The best 
shutter is far from doing this. Opinion is divided as to which 
is the best from the point of view of efficiency ; but there seems 
to be little room to question the superiority of the focal-plane 
type so long as it is used as near as possible to the plate and 
with a fairly wide slit. A special form of diaphragm shutter, 
the “ Multi-speed,” has been very highly spoken of by Dr. 
Adolphe Abrahams, as apparently of even greater efficiency 
than the focal-plane ; but it is very difficult to compare two 
shutters of distinct types, especially as efficiency varies very 
much with conditions which are outside the shutter proper. 
For example, we have seen that the efficiency of the focal-plane 
shutter depends on the nearness of its blind to the plate, while 
in all diaphragm shutters the efficiency is greater the smaller 
the lens to which the shutter is fitted or the smaller the stop 
used. If we could always be sure of using quite a small stop, 
the diaphragm shutter would leave nothing to be desired 

M 


162 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


on this score ; but unfortunately the conditions when a shutter 
is required, or at least when shutter efficiency is important, are 
almost always those which compel us to use a large stop. 

While the efficiency of a shutter is an important matter 
to the hand-camera user, it is apt to be overrated. The shutter 
is used in order to get a sharp picture of a rapidly moving 
object, and what we want is to get as much light action on the 
plate as we can, coupled with as little sign of movement. Now 
a very inefficient shutter will cause the exposure to begin 
and end very gradually, and although this will mean that very 
little light is reaching the plate at those stages, it is not as bad 
as it seems, since the light, for part of the time at least, will 
be too feeble for the movement of the object to show. Put 
another way, we may say that with an inefficient shutter we can 
give longer exposures on a moving object without that move¬ 
ment showing than we can with an efficient shutter, but that, 
on the other hand, the efficient shutter will more fully expose 
the plate in a shorter time. Efficiency is unquestionably an 
advantage; but it may not be as great a benefit as it seems in 
theory. In practice it is very doubtful whether in going from 
one type of shutter to another, say from the ordinary form 
of diaphragm shutter to the focal-plane type, any allowance 
should be made for the supposed increased efficiency of the 
latter. There may appear to be a great difference between the 
two; but it is much more likely to be due to inaccurate gradua¬ 
tion of one or both than to any perceptible difference in 
efficiency. 

Inaccurate graduation is a very widespread fault in shutters. 
Some of the best and most expensive instruments are wonder¬ 
fully accurate, not only when they are new but after a good 
deal of hard usage. We have known cases in which the 
shutters were not 5 per cent, in error anywhere throughout 
the scale after a year’s work. When the conditions are con¬ 
sidered this is very surprising, and is well within any possible 
requirements of the photographer. But on the other hand, the 
great majority of shutters which are graduated at all are 
graduated incorrectly, not necessarily wilfully. Makers, in 
some cases, recognize this by declining to guarantee the speeds. 
Even if the shutter is accurate when it leaves the maker’s 
hands, it may be of such a design that it does not long remain 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


163 


so. It is chiefly in the highest and lowest graduations that the 
greatest inaccuracies are to be found, errors as great as 70 per 
cent, being not at all uncommon. The fact seems to be that, 
with the cheaper diaphragm shutters especially, the fastest 
exposures are not often much more than a thirtieth of a second, 
and this is what they give whether set to ^5, 5^, or T J 0 second: 
Possibly when first made these higher speeds were realized 
in favourable conditions, but they are not often maintained 
except in the very best types. The evil is not quite as great as 
it seems, since these exposures are seldom long enough to give 
a properly exposed plate. Take, for example, the miscellaneous 
views, street scenes, architecture, groups, etc., which the tourist 
so often photographs. With the apparatus he has, fast plates, 
F/6*5 lens, or something similar, in bright weather, very few 
indeed of these will be fully exposed with less than a thirtieth of 
a second, many require twice as long as that. This is about the 
exposure which is given by most of the non-graduated single¬ 
speed shutters on the cheaper hand-cameras, and is about the 
best all-round speed one can have, although the expert would 
probably choose a speed of about twice as long if he were limited 
to one. 

The demand for very rapid shutters, except on the part 
of those who specialize in high-speed work, is one which is 
largely left to the inexpert. The old hand realizes that it is 
far more important to get a shutter that will give slow 
exposures reliably ; and, except for special work, would give 
all the hundredths and thousandths of a second that figure in 
price lists for a shutter which would give with unfailing 
accuracy such a series as J, h it A secon d. 

The latest developments of the hand-camera have been in 
the direction of very small folding instruments, which give 
pictures much less than quarter-plate in size, but which may 
be enlarged to almost any extent within reason. In order to 
allow of this, the little camera must be fitted with a high-class 
lens, must be fairly substantial, must have an arrangement for 
focussing, and a shutter which can be controlled, or, if not, 
which gives a comparatively slow exposure; for unless the 
plate or film has received an ample exposure, it is useless to 
expect that it can be made to give a good enlargement. Such 
little instruments may be quite as costly as the larger patterns 


164 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


or even more so, and in capable hands are very far from being 
mere toys. An enlargement 15 x 12 or more from a negative 
not much larger than a postage stamp is quite within the 
bounds of possibility ; and when such an enlargement is viewed 
from the natural distance at which one would view it as a 
whole, there need be no sign to indicate its tiny origin. 

The popularity of the reflex camera has done much to 
perfect the focal-plane shutter, with which reflex instruments 
are almost always fitted. The modern focal-plane shutter 
is set by a turn or two of a knob ; it is controlled by the same 
or a similar knob working from the outside of the camera, 
and altering both the tension spring and the width of the 
slit; and it gives exposures which are indicated directly upon 
a dial, and is comparatively smooth and noiseless in its action. 
Only the more expensive patterns can be relied upon to give 
the marked exposures with any accuracy, and, what is more 
important still, to give such slow exposures as an eighth or 
a sixteenth of a second. The highest speeds are frequently 
much slower than are given on the dial. The focal-plane 
shutter has the peculiarity that when the slit is a narrow one 
different parts of the plate are exposed at different times ; and, 
as a result, there may be curious distortion in the image, 
although this is only to be noticed when the object photo¬ 
graphed is moving too rapidly for the exposure. An example 
of this reproduced in some of the illustrated papers has puzzled 
a good many who were not photographers. It represented 
a rapidly moving motor-car, and, having been taken with 
an extremely narrow slit, as this travelled down the plate 
uncovering first the ground and wheels of the car and then 
the upper portion, the image of the car moved forward 
perceptibly, so that the top was exposed some fraction of a 
second after the lower part, and therefore the whole car seemed 
to be leaning forward. A dozen times the total exposure given 
to any one part of the plate may have intervened between the 
instant at which the bottom and that at which the top was 
exposed. This distortion is not likely to constitute a draw¬ 
back in actual work ; if it were to do so it would indicate 
that the width of the slit should be increased, and the higher 
speeds got by means of increased tension of the driving 
springs. 



AN ARAB CHIEF 


BY W. G. MEREDITH 




THE HAND-CAMERA 


165 


Although when a camera is being used on a stand a 
pneumatic or else an “ Antinous ” release for the shutter is 
very useful, reducing the chance of shaking the camera, in 
hand-camera work it is found better not to employ any such 
device so long as the camera is held in the hand, but to rely 
upon pressing the button. In doing this, it is important to 
press it the right way. Next to under-exposure, more nega¬ 
tives are spoilt by shaking the camera when pressing the button 
than in any other way whatever. The cause of this is that 
the button is pushed, and in pushing it the whole camera is 
swung round or moved downwards. Instead of this, the 
camera should be held in such a way that while the finger on 
the button tends to push it one way, the other fingers tend 
to pull it in the opposite direction, so that while the button 
moves the camera remains steady. This is most important 
in reflex cameras, since the pressure of the button in most of 
these has to be continuous and to do a great deal of work, 
first raising the mirror and then liberating the shutter. On the 
other hand, the greater weight of the reflex helps to keep 
it steady. 

Most hand-cameras are provided with levels, but they 
are of little use. When the camera is held in the hand for the 
hand-camera subjects, it is almost impossible to note the 
level and the finder at the same time ; while if the camera is 
used for architecture and similar work on a stand, the average 
hand-camera level is not accurate enough nor sensitive enough 
to be of much service. There are some people, no doubt, 
whose sense of the horizontal is so defective that the level as 
fitted to a hand-camera gives them a valuable indication; but 
they cannot be very plentiful. 

Plate-changing mechanism occupies the premier place in 
the attention of the hand-camera worker, because the tempta¬ 
tion to make exposures is much greater than it is with the 
stand-camera, and the customary “ three double dark slides ” 
prove quite insufficient. Of plate cameras, those are most 
popular in which the plates are carried - vertically in 
sheaths, with pins or pivots at the end of each sheath on 
which it swings into a horizontal position at the bottom 
of the camera when the top of the sheath is released. If 
such a camera is to be reliable, it must not only be in good 


166 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


order when bought, but it must be taken great care of. The 
mechanism is simple and very cheap to make, but it needs 
gentle usage. The sheaths must not get bent, especially with 
regard to the pins ; the camera must not be exposed to 
violent shocks, and the position in which it is held during plate¬ 
changing is important. As different patterns vary in this 
respect, it is best to load the sheaths with spoilt negatives first, 
and to find by trial the angle at which to hold the camera for 
the changing to be smoothest and most reliable, and, in future 
always to hold it at that angle when changing a plate. 

Plenty of hand-camera workers still use dark slides. They 
have one great advantage over magazines and magazine 
cameras, and that is that an accident to the plate-changing 
mechanism of the latter makes the camera useless ; in the 
former case it is, as a rule, only the one plate in the slide that 
need suffer if anything goes wrong. If more than one kind of 
plate is carried, the dark slides allow them to be used in any 
order that seems to be desirable. Dark slides are bulky com¬ 
pared with magazines ; on the other hand, being separate, they 
stow more easily. A member of the Chinese Legation in 
London, who was once a popular visitor at many a Photo¬ 
graphic Society outing, was famous for the vast number of 
dark slides which he was able to conceal in different parts 
of the picturesque Eastern garb which he wore; the exact 
total was never determined, but he would certainly stand 
comparison with any magazine camera. 

No automatic or magazine changer is absolutely reliable; 
but some patterns come so near to perfection in that respect 
that the difference is not worth troubling about. They have 
already been dealt with in Chapter II. Cut films can be 
carried in any of the changing arrangements provided for 
plates. In the case of changing boxes, by means of special 
sheaths it is often possible to accommodate twice as many cut 
films as plates. There are also special methods of changing 
cut films, which cannot be satisfactorily applied to glass plates. 
The cut film in its most popular form is found in the film 
pack, already referred to. No plate-changing mechanism, 
however, can compare in simplicity and reliability with the 
daylight-loading roll-film cartridge. In.using these, although 
it should be perfectly safe to load the camera in daylight, 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


167 


it is foolish to do so in any stronger flight than is necessary. 
Nothing is to be gained while there is always the chance that the 
roll of film may be allowed to uncoil for a moment sufficiently 
far to let in light and fog it. It is best, therefore, whenever 
possible, to load the camera indoors ; and, if not, at least not 
in direct sunshine. Some of the very compact cameras close 
up so closely to the film, that there is a risk when winding 
off film after exposure that its surface is rubbed against the 
bellows and marked. To avoid this, the winding off should be 
done before closing the camera. It is important, too, when 
using roll film, especially with the modern high-class lenses 
which have a flat field and a large aperture, to be sure that the 
surface of the film is as flat as possible, or parts of the 
picture might be out of focus. To guard against this it is 
necessary before closing up the camera to make sure that the 
black paper has been put quite squarely into position and is 
running true. 

The commonest defect of all in hand-camera work is under¬ 
exposure. This is due to a great extent to the fact that the 
user has not learnt how to hold the camera still, or is afraid that 
if he does not give a very short exposure there will be signs of 
movement due to his own lack of steadiness. The length of 
exposure possible depends upon the personal factor (individuals 
differ very largely in this respect), and upon the constraint or 
otherwise of the attitude in which the camera is held. The 
usual plan is to grasp the camera firmly in the two hands, press 
it against the “ lower chest,” bend over it to see the image in the 
finder, and press the button. It is the steadiest method of all, 
undoubtedly, but has its limitations. The lungs should be 
deflated and the breath held when the exposure is being made, 
if possible ; but when one cannot be certain to a few seconds 
when the conditions will be just right for exposing, this is risky, 
as the moment for pressing the button may - find the photo¬ 
grapher gasping for breath, and in the worst, rather than the 
best, possible condition for exposing. The old hand will never 
lose an opportunity of securing additional support, by leaning 
against a tree, a wall, or anything that will help to steady the 
body. It is much better in such circumstances to support the 
body than to support the camera, unless the latter can be placed 
on the support free entirely from contact with the person of its 


168 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


user. Some workers seem to prefer to hold the camera under 
the right arm while exposing, and get along very well in such a 
position ; but it has always seemed to the author that the 
attitude is one of constraint, and if the camera has to be held 
like that for a minute or two, awaiting a favourable opportunity 
for making the exposure, there is a great risk of movement. 
Any attitude of tension is to be avoided. A skilful worker has 
thus summed up the rules for holding the camera 

1. Hold it in as comfortable a position as possible. 

2. Avoid all unnecessary tension on the muscles of the body 

and legs. 

3. Take advantage of any available support for the body. 

4. Whenever possible deflate the lungs and hold the breath 

before exposing. 

The actual maximum exposure which can be given without 
showing signs of movement, the camera being held in the hand, 
depends on a personal equation. But an eighth of a second 
should always be possible. The most shaky hand-camera user 
the author has ever encountered gave an eighth of a second 
without signs of movement; the author himself has little 
trouble with exposures of half a second, but this is unusual in 
his experience. Whatever it be, it is always much longer than 
the exposure to which most people set their shutters. But in 
hand-camera work there is not only the movement of the user 
to consider, but the movement of the subject, and this often 
imposes very strict limitations on the photograher. 

The reflex camera has the great advantage that with it the 
subject can be arranged on a finder which is correct in all 
positions and at all distances, which shows the image the full 
size, and which allows of visual focussing, instead of focussing 
by scale. Some of these advantages were possessed by the 
twin-lens camera, which consisted practically of two lenses and 
cameras, one above the other; the lower camera contained the 
plate and was fitted with the shutter, the upper one had a 
focussing screen, and was used as a finder. This type was 
more bulky and heavy than the reflex (which itself possesses 
those drawbacks to a considerable extent) and is now obsolete. 
The reflex is not at all an unsuitable type of instrument for the 
beginner, but its great advantages over other patterns are found 
by the more advanced worker. Focussing cannot in actual 



. SOUTH COAST QUAY 

BY BERTRAM C. WICK ISON 









THE HAND-CAMERA 


169 


practice be carried on up to the moment of exposure, at any 
rate on a moving object; all that can be done is to anticipate 
its position in focussing, and then to follow it with the camera, 
pressing the release when that position is reached and the object 
is seen to be sharp. The advantages lie chiefly in the degree 
of accuracy in focussing which is possible with it, which allows 
us to use large aperture, long focus, and telephoto lenses, which 
cannot be focussed by scale with sufficient exactness. The 
reflex, therefore, can be used in a poor light; or in a good light 
the lens may be fast enough to allow the camera to be held in 
the hand and a colour screen to be used. On the other hand, 
we have seen that the type is heavy and bulky; and although 
flolding reflexes have been made, they are no lighter in con¬ 
sequence, and the saving in bulk is not great. Then the focal- 
plane shutter which is almost a necessity with them is not very 
suitable for comparatively slow exposures. The accuracy with 
which they must be made, and the smoothness of action which 
is essential where there is so much that must be moved at the 
moment of exposure, tend to make the type a costly one. So 
that in this case, as in many others, the advantages of the 
instrument cannot be obtained without paying for them in more 
ways than one ; and in making a selection these pros and 
cons must be balanced up, according to the importance each 
individual attaches to the various features. 

Except in the case of the reflex (and the twin lens) all hand- 
cameras demand that their user shall be a judge of distance. 
Even those of fixed focus require this, if the wasting of plates 
on impossible subjects is to be avoided. To estimate distances 
rapidly is a thing that can soon be learnt by one who makes a 
serious effort to do so ; but the mere using of a hand-camera is 
not sufficient, and it may take years and grosses of plates if the 
thing is not set about systematically. Yet too many photo¬ 
graphers, as soon as they get a camera, start to try to get results 
on their plates at once, instead of using a few dozen in learning 
to master it. An afternoon devoted to judging distance will 
work wonders. There is no need at first to have the camera. 
The simplest plan is to go for a walk with a friend and get him 
to set problems of distances very promptly, and to demand an 
instant answer. Walking in a wood, let him stop and point to 
a tree near at hand. Estimate its distance as quickly as 


170 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


possible, state it, and then measure it off to see how near 
the estimated is to the actual. It is good practice with trees, it 
is much better with persons, horses and carts, and such objects ; 
but to be valuable the estimating must be done on a system 
and not by guesswork, and must be checked with a measure. 

The system most workers adopt is one of “ lengths.” Here 
we have the standard always with us. A glance on the ground 
should suffice, with a little practice, to tell us how many times 
we could lie down head to feet in a straight line from where we 
stand to the object. Unless the photographer is distinctly 
diminutive double that number will give the distance in yards 
accurately enough for our purpose. It is easier to do this 
quickly than to estimate in yards off-hand. Distances of 
more than 12 yards need not usually be attempted. There 
are two other exercises which the hand-camera user will find 
valuable. One is to select an object, and settle in the mind on 
a distance, which also should be less than 12 yards. Let 
him walk briskly towards the object, stop at what is estimated 
is the predetermined distance, and then check the estimate by 
measuring. The same method is adopted, by walking neither 
exactly towards nor away from the object, but on a diagonal 
line. When walking away from it, as a rule, it is possible to 
determine the distance merely by counting the paces. 

It is not easy to determine the distance of a person moving 
towards or from the camera, while all the time watching the 
image in the finder; and in such cases the following plan 
will be found distinctly helpful, especially to those who photo¬ 
graph groups, street scenes, and single figures. A person of 
average height, with his hat on, is asked to stand at the distance 
from the camera at which most work of this character is likely 
to be done—10 or 12 feet for choice—and then, getting his 
image in the centre of the finder, a black line is drawn on 
the finder its exact height, with a fine brush and some Brunswick 
black. With this line as a guide, it will be found possible to 
obtain pictures using nothing but the size of the figures as 
seen in the finder to indicate their distance from the camera. 

The original idea of the hand-camera was indicated by its 
first title, the “detective camera. It was to be used for the 
surreptitious photography of individuals. That idea was never 
realized, though the best use of the camera to-day is for the 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


171 


photography of persons who are unaware at the time they 
are in the receipt of adventitious immortality. This puts the 
subject of “the ethics of hand-camera work ” upon the carpet. 
It has been contended that it is not consistent to condemn the 
practice of photographing people against their will, and at the 
same time to give instructions how figures and groups can 
be photographed without consciousness of the presence of a 
photographer at work. That the two are not mutually antago¬ 
nistic will be clear to any one upon reflection ; but a disserta¬ 
tion on the subject is out of place in a book such as this. 
Let it suffice if we say that the hand-camera user who has 
the instinct of a gentleman will not offend, although he may 
find what follows of use to him ; while the hooligan with or 
without a camera is a hooligan still, and if our advice helps 
to make his photographs any better than they would otherwise 
be, he is probably so much the less objectionable to his victims, 
although none the less a cad. 

The greatest advantage in pictorial photography conferred 
by the use of hand-camera is that with it we are able to get 
figures and groups, the models in which are absolutely uncon¬ 
scious that they are being depicted. Their pose, therefore, 
good or bad, is at least a natural one, the surroundings may 
be the real thing, and in perfect keeping, and there is none 
of that suggestion that the whole arrangement has been made 
up to be photographed, which in other methods is only avoided 
with great difficulty. Mr. Craig Annan, and there could hardly 
be a higher authority on the subject, has said that the pictorial 
worker should no more have to worry about his tools and 
methods than the writer needs to think of his pen while using 
it; and although photography has not yet reached to that 
stage, the hand-camera has taken it appreciably nearer. 

In work of this kind a long-focus lens becomes very valuable, 
not only because it allows us to be further from the figures 
and so to get them all of full size with the better drawing given 
by the more distant standpoint, but also because there is less 
likelihood of attracting their attention and so rendering them 
camera-conscious. For this kind of work the reflex camera 
with one of the moderate power fixed mount telephoto lenses 
which have been introduced of late years (see page 77) will 
be found more suitable than any other. The focussing has to 


172 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


be carried out much more carefully, and the camera held as 
steadily as possible, but such work is thoroughly practicable. 
It is important, however, to fit the telephoto lens, temporarily 
or permanently, with a much longer hood than that with which 
the maker supplies it, if the results are to be clear and bright; 
as a general rule such a hood, if of the diameter of the maker’s 
hood, may extend at; least as far in front of the lens as the 
back of the lens is from the plate, without any fear of cutting 
off any of the image. 

It is as a travel or holiday companion that the hand-camera 
finds its most general use; and what could be better in that 
capacity than a compact, often a pocket, instrument, which, with 
a little skill, will bring back to us at a moment’s notice scenes 
we may never be able to revisit, and incidents that may 
never recur? The tourist will want to use his camera not only 
for figures and groups, but for architecture, shipping, street 
scenes, landscape, and all the miscellaneous purposes to which 
any kind of camera can be put. Architecture is perhaps that 
to which it is least fitted, yet it can be used to give successful 
results. The great virtue of an architectural subject to a hand- 
camera worker is that it will keep still just as long as he cares 
to take in photographing it. 

It is in applying it to architecture that the photographer first 
learns the importance of the rising front. In all probability he 
will find, if his camera has not got a rising front, that he gets 
a great deal more of the ground on his plate than he wants, 
while the skyline of the building goes right out of the top 
of the picture. With a rising front this may be curable, though 
it does not follow. Many cameras have a maximum rise of 
one inch on a quarter-plate, and though this is much better 
than nothing, there are often occasions when more would be 
a distinct convenience. A few hand-cameras have a swing 
back, but this is not common, and if neither rising front nor 
swing back are provided it is a question of tipping the camera 
or of leaving the subject unphotographed or incomplete. There 
is quite an unnecessary objection to tipping the camera. The 
practice is not one to be indulged in when it can be prevented ; 
but if there is no other way of getting what we want upon 
the plate, there is no conceivable reason why the camera should 
not be tipped Of course negatives so made cannot be printed 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


173 


by contact, or they will show vertical lines converging at the 
top of the picture, but by properly swinging the plate and the 
easel when enlarging or making lantern slides this can be 
corrected with surprisingly little trouble. 

The problem of exposure which confronts every camera user 
is complicated in hand-camera work by the fact that not only 
must the exposure be the correct one as required by the plate, 
but it must be brief enough for the negative to show no signs 
of movement, either of the camera or the subject. Tables are 
given in some of the books showing how short the exposure 
must be to secure sharpness with different classes of subjects— 
express trains so much, jumping horses so much, etc., etc. 
Such tables are worse than useless; they are misleading. If 
they do give the exposure which will prevent movement from 
showing, which as a rule they do not, it is so short as to be 
impracticable with most cameras, and far shorter than should 
be necessary in most cases. In addition to this the figures 
are or should be given for a specific size of the image on 
the plate and for motion at some given angle to the axis of 
the camera—conditions which the photographer finds it difficult 
to observe. The best rule with rapidly moving objects is to 
ascertain the shortest possible exposure that will give a correctly 
exposed plate with the largest lens aperture, and to give that 
exposure. If the negative is a good one, well and good ; if 
it is not, the photographer has the satisfaction, such as it is, 
of knowing that he did his best. In all rapidly moving objects 
the camera should be as near their path as possible, so as to get 
an almost front view. This reduces any blurring due to move¬ 
ment to a great extent, and apart from that is nearly always 
a much more agreeable arrangement than when the moving 
object is taken broadside on. It is possible in this way to 
get jumping horses, express trains, and similar subjects quite 
sharp, to all appearances, with the ordinary hand-camera shutter, 
graduated to a one-hundreth of a second and actually working, 
perhaps, at a fortieth. But the moving objects should be as 
small on the plate as is possible, as the smaller they are the 
smaller is the apparent blurring caused by movement. 

Exposures made from boats and other moving supports, 
require to be short to prevent movement of the camera from 
showing. On the other hand, they are very rarely made on 


174 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


rapidly moving objects near at hand, so that the exposure may 
be longer than in the previously considered case. We are also 
working, practically, with a fixed-focus camera, for we can set 
it to infinity and leave it there, since we are hardly likely to 
have any part of the subject near enough for special focussing 
to be necessary. There is another advantage in such subjects, 
and that is that there is very seldom need for a short exposure 
on account of the plate, the subjects usually being well lit, or 
at least without heavy foreground shadows. 

In photographing from a steamer there is often more trouble 
from the vibration caused by the engines than from the pro¬ 
gression of the vessel. To minimize this, the hand-camera 
should be held in the hand rather than planted on the taffrail, 
the body then deadens the shock. As a general rule, it will be 
found that a twenty-fifth or thirty-second of a second is ample 
for all exposures made from a moving ship with a hand-camera 
with a 5-inch or 6-inch lens. Exposures from small boats are 
in a different category, and must be determined by the particular 
conditions prevailing. If any sea is on, the movement of the 
boat is much more rapid, while at the same time the surface 
of the water is much nearer, is on a bigger scale on the plate, 
and, therefore, any movement is magnified. 

It is in street scenes and groups that the trouble of harmon¬ 
izing the demands of the plate for a long exposure and of the 
subject for a short one is likely to be greatest. Here we have 
moving objects comparatively near the camera, and deep 
shadows at no great distance. It is in work of this character 
that the advantages of a high-class modern-type lens and of 
a reflector camera shine forth; but a great deal can be done 
with quite inexpensive apparatus if the conditions are not 
unfavourable. Assuming, as before, that the camera is a 
quarter-plate one, with a lens of about 5 inches focus and 
working at F/8, a fiftieth of a second will be found to be what 
such subjects require, if they are to be taken haphazard and 
are to show no movement with figures walking 10 or 12 yards 
from the camera. In very many cases this would mean that 
the plate was hopelessly under-exposed. But there is no need 
to work haphazard, and much longer exposures can be given 
if the subject is studied a little. With such movements as that 
of a man’s legs when he is walking—and this is the most 


THE HAND-CAMERA 


175 


troublesome movement of all to the hand-camera user—there 
is a stage when they are moving much faster than the average 
movement of the man, and another when they are almost 
motionless. It is this second stage which impresses itself 
most strongly on the eye; and painters, therefore, when 
drawing a man walking, draw him in one of these positions 
when his movement is least perceptible. Such poses are now 
the accepted conventional methods of representing figures 
walking, and fortunately for the hand-camera user they are 
the easiest with which he can deal. He should learn, there¬ 
fore, to recognize them, and to time his exposure so that if 
there is a walking figure in the picture on a large scale, it 
is photographed when its movement is at a minimum. It is 
the neglect of such opportunities, coupled with the use of a 
very short exposure, made necessary by such neglect, that we 
owe the snapshots of street scenes that are so commonly seen, 
the figures in which are almost comically unnatural in their 
attitudes. There may be a scientific use for such photographs, 
but pictorially they are to be condemned. Under the conditions 
just named, instead of the fiftieth of a second, which is the 
minimum for haphazard exposures, a sixteenth of a second will 
be ample if the moment of exposure is selected judiciously. 
Vehicles in motion in street scenes are to be avoided unless 
they are quite at a distance, as otherwise the exposure has to 
be cut down to such a point as to mean certain under-exposure 
for the plate. 

There are many subjects with which the focal-plane or else 
the “ Multi-speed ” shutter alone can deal satisfactorily. These 
include such photographic tours de force as motor-cars and 
express trains, broadside on and in full flight, divers in mid¬ 
air, skipping scenes with every strand in the whirling rope 
distinctly visible. For work of this character not only is an 
extremely rapid shutter necessary, but the lighting must be 
exceptionally good, the lens used at a large opening, and, as 
a rule, the camera must be of the reflector type. They are 
curious rather than beautiful, and, as in the case of wave 
subjects, pictorial effect is lost entirely by the absence of all 
suggestion of movement. A train just starting from a station, 
with the column of steam and smoke shot upwards by its 
efforts, taken with an exposure of, say, a thirty-second of a 


176 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


second, looks far more as if it were moving than the same 
train crisply defined in every part, though travelling at twenty 
times the speed and “snapped” in the thousandth of a 
second. 

The hand-camera, so far, has been considered throughout 
as if the exposures with it were always controllable and known; 
but this is only the case in exceptional circumstances. There 
are many, probably the majority, which have shutters of one 
fixed speed. It must not be supposed that they dispense with 
the necessity for taking any account of exposures. Far from it. 
Unless the user of such a camera takes a little trouble to 
ascertain what are the requirements of his plate on the one 
hand, and of his subjects on the other, he will find that his 
waste of plates is enormous, and that a successful result is 
only an occasional accident. The lesson he must learn is, 
what is and what is not, possible with his camera. The shutters 
of such instruments generally give exposures from one-twentieth 
to one-fiftieth of a second. This, as can be seen from what has 
already been said, is, perhaps, the best average speed to possess, 
and if the lens is one which is reasonably rapid, say F/8, a 
great deal of good work can be done with a such a tool. 
Single-speed shutters are fitted, as a rule, on cameras with 
a single lens, which seldom work at a larger opening than 
F/ii, and this lessens the possibilities somewhat. Street scenes 
are only practicable, then, if the street is fairly open and the 
light good. Given these conditions, the results with a cheap 
camera of this type may be as good as, or even better than, 
those obtained with a more costly apparatus, if this latter is in 
the hands of one who is not able to take full advantage of 
its good points. Landscapes generally, except woodland 
scenery under trees and shut in, facades of buildings, shipping, 
figures in the open, are all dealt with very easily with a camera 
with a single lens and a single-speed shutter. But it cannot 
be used successfully when the light is poor, such as on most 
winter days in this country—except for snow scenes—or when 
the sun is low on the horizon, or for figure subjects with heavy 
shadows, such as are to be met with in the narrow, picturesque 
streets of South Europe, or for figures under cover. The great 
thing with such a camera is to study its limitations, and to be 
prepared for disappointment if they are overstepped 



HONESTY 

BY JOHN M, WHITEHEAD 












THE HAND-CAMERA 


177 


There are many people who carry a camera but have never 
done any of the photographic work themselves. Nothing can 
be said against such a practice except that it is not photography, 
and is very wasteful of money. Because even if the work is 
distasteful and irksome, and therefore delegated to some one 
else, it is not possible to secure a reasonable percentage of good 
results, unless the user, or perhaps we ought to say the wearer, 
of the camera has been through the mill of development and 
printing, and has got an understanding of what he is doing 
when he “ presses the button,” an understanding which he can 
acquire in no other way. If hand-camera work is to be any¬ 
thing more than a series of bitter disappointments, broken only 
by unseemly joy over the one poor plate that mars the otherwise 
even monotony of the ninety-nine that are so negative as not to 
be negatives at all, a little time must be spent in learning to use 
the camera properly, and development and printing must be 
practised even if they are afterwards to be abandoned to 
others. 

There is a large and growing class, however, who regard 
hand-camera work as something more than irresponsible snap¬ 
shotting ; who expect to get good negatives from the great 
majority of the plates which they expose; who no more regard 
it as mere “ button-pressing ” than successful shooting is mere 
trigger-pulling. To them the hand-camera is not a degenerate 
stand-camera become a toy, but the highest stage which the 
evolution of photographic apparatus has reached, an instrument 
of precision, the results with which are as certainly successful 
as with any other well-made apparatus in the hands of fallible 
humanity. 


N 


CHAPTER XIV 

THE PRINT 


P. O. P,—Sensitiveness—Most suitable negatives—Vignetting—Washing and toning 
—Separate or combined baths—Self-toning papers—Double tones—Developing 
partially printed P.O.P.—Platinum toning—Fixing— Washers— Squeegeeing— 
Mounting—Dry mounting. 

T HE negative is only a means to an end, that end in almost 
every case is the print. There must be just one small 
reservation, because in certain branches of scientific photo¬ 
graphy the need for extreme accuracy in the dimensions of the 
photograph compels the use of the negative as the final result, 
the expansion and contraction of a paper print with varying 
degrees of humidity of the atmosphere putting its use quite out 
of the question. 

Amateur photographers, with this trifling exception, regard 
the print as the final result, a statement which holds good, whether 
the print is a contact one on a slow paper, a direct enlargement 
on bromide paper, or a print on glass in the shape of a lantern 
slide. For the majority, too, a print is a print on some more 
or less shiny surfaced “ silver ” paper, the universally used 
“ Printing Out Paper,” or P.O.P. P.O.P. is a comparatively 
recent introduction. Like “ gaslight ” paper, manufacturers 
knew how to make it long before they put it on the market in 
any quantity, and it was due to the enterprise of Ilford, Ltd., 
that the demand for it was created, at the expense of the 
trade in albumenized paper, which was virtually killed in the 
process. 

In “ P.O.P.” the sensitive silver salt is applied to the paper 
either in gelatine or in collodion. The latter is more popular 
abroad than in Great Britain. In order that P.O.P. may be 
sufficiently sensitive to be usable at all, and give a rich image by 

178 


THE PRINT 


179 


printing out, it is not sufficient that it should contain silver 
chloride only. 1 his is an insoluble salt, and although it does 
not keep in gelatine as well as does silver bromide, still it is 
fairly stable. But, unfortunately for the P.O.P. process, soluble 
salts of silver of a much less permanent character have to be 
present in the coating, with the result that most forms of P.O.P. 
gradually, but inevitably, discolour and spoil, even if kept in 
the dark and with every possible protection. We are speaking 
now of the keeping properties of the paper in its sensitive con¬ 
dition, not of the permanence of the prints, which will be 
considered later. The presence of these silver compounds 
makes it important that P.O.P. should be used while it is still 
comparatively fresh; and as its deterioration is accelerated by 
heat, by impure air, and by emanations from common card¬ 
board and other materials of a like kind, it is important that it 
should be well packed and stored in a cool place, free from gas 
fumes and the products of combustion generally. Latterly 
there have been brands of P.O.P. on the market which are 
said to be free from such silver compounds, and therefore keep 
in good working order for a long while. 

The different grades and colours of the paper suit it for 
different purposes. The mauve or rose tinted glossy papers 
are liked by many for such portrait work as appeals to the 
philistine Briton. A slightly higher taste prefers the white; 
but it does not need a very great degree of culture for all 
glossy surfaces of the P.O.P. type to be distasteful, and a matt 
paper, white for choice, to be preferred. There are different 
degrees of “ matt ” paper on the market, and generally speak¬ 
ing, the smoother paper is suitable for the smaller sizes. The 
custom of supplying the paper in pieces cut to the size of the 
negative rather than in full size sheets, which is now very wide 
spread, is economical, even from the point of view of those who 
use only a part of their negative, as it enables the paper to be 
packed flat in compact envelopes, and saves risk of damage 
from finger marks when the paper is being cut up ; for P.O.P. 
is very easily injured. The surface is readily absorbent, and a 
warm finger pressed on it, or the slightest dampness, may make 
a mark which will be visible on the finished print. 

The sensitiveness of P.O.P. is such that it can be freely 
handled in an ordinary room lit with daylight; but, of course, 


180 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


even then it must not be exposed too long or there will be a 
risk of degradation of the whites. There is a method of 
developing a print on P.O.P., which has only had a short 
exposure to light, by means of which a strong rich print can 
be obtained very quickly. As this method brings out very 
slight traces of light action, traces which in the ordinary way 
would be quite invisible, it follows that paper that is to be 
developed must on no account be exposed to daylight with the 
freedom that may be used if the paper is to be printed out. 
P.O.P. is coated in yellow light, and if the prints are to be 
developed the packet should be opened and the printing frame 
filled and emptied in yellow light also. 

It is generally supposed that a very soft negative is required 
for P.O.P., but this may easily mislead. Soft it must certainly 
be compared with the negative that is to give a print in carbon 
or in platinum, but one distinctly harder than will give the best 
bromide enlargement or print on “gaslight” paper is needed. 
Much can be done by printing in a light to suit the negative. 
Thus a strong negative is best printed in a strong light—any¬ 
thing short of sunlight, as this tends to lessen contrast in the 
print. A weak negative in the same way gives a stronger 
print if the printing is done slowly in a weak light. The 
printing frames in these two cases need not be separated, but 
that containing the strong negative exposed to the direct light 
of the sky, while the frame with the thin one has one or two 
thicknesses of tissue paper pasted across it to moderate the 
light. A curious increase in the contrast of the print, which 
has never been satisfactorily explained, will be found if the 
printing is conducted with a piece of green glass between the 
negative and the light. Direct sunshine is to be avoided in all 
printing operations, as unless the negative is very fogged or 
over-exposed the printing is unmanageably quick, and every 
speck or blemish in the glass of the negative, and very little 
glass is quite free from blemish, is faithfully copied in the print 
by the parallel rays of sunshine. In diffused light such spots 
are vignetted as it were, and do not appear. 

Mention of vignetting raises the question how far the 
photographic “vignette” is justifiable, pictorially. It was 
Dr. Emerson who first showed that it was a mere commercial 
“ dodge,” borrowed from another art without borrowing its 


THE PRINT 


181 


justification. In a chalk drawing the artist may leave the 
background untouched, that he may concentrate his attention 
and work on the head; in photography the printer who 
vignettes takes trouble to imitate a style the excuse for which 
is that it saves labour. A delicately lit head vignetted against 
a background of white paper is repulsive, from the falsification 
of its tones, and such things are permissible only in commercial 
work to suit an uncultivated taste, or rather a lack of taste 
altogether. If “vignetted heads,” as they are called in price 
lists, are not allowable pictorially, there are cases where a 
vignette effect is not to be condemned. In little prints which 
are often used to decorate such things as menus, programmes, 
and initial letters, a skilful vignetting may be more satisfactory 
than plain masking. But such vignetting is impossible with 
the “ vignetting shapes” of commerce, and demands individual 
treatment. The size and shape of the vignette must first be 
settled, and then cut out in a sheet of cardboard, which is 
fastened over the face of the printing frame, half an inch or so 
from the negative. It may be that it is possible to print the 
vignette straight away with this device, but it will often be 
found impracticable without pasting a piece of tissue paper 
over the card to diffuse the light. For the same purpose the 
outline of the card is not cut with a smooth edge, but it is 
jagged with teeth like a saw. When there are light parts on 
the negative which lie beyond the boundaries of the vignette, 
it may be found that these will show on the print, from the 

diffused light getting round the edges of the opening in the 

card. In such a case, after fixing the card in position, cotton 

wool may be pushed through the opening so as to block up the 

space between the negative and the card, while by teazing out 
its edges anything like a hard line can be prevented. 

The gelatine film of a negative has a strong affinity for 
moisture. If printing is conducted in a damp atmosphere, 
therefore, there is a very great risk of the negative absorbing 
moisture through the paper on which the print is being made. 
As in the case of P.O.P., this paper contains soluble salts of 
silver; some of these are transferred to the negative with the 
moisture, and under the influence of the light they rapidly turn 
into black spots, which, as they consist of metallic silver, as 
does the picture in the negative itself, are very difficult of 


182 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


removal without the image on the negative also being affected. 
In bad cases, such as may happen when a shower of rain comes 
on while printing frames are out, the paper may stick to the 
negative. Leaving the paper in the frame over night, in damp 
weather, is a very fertile source of these spots, as also is print¬ 
ing before the negative is quite dry. There is no remedy that 
is invariably efficacious, but the best is the following:— 

If the paper has stuck to the negative, as much of the paper 
as can be removed while it is dry is pulled off, and then the 
negative is placed for an hour or so in a freshly mixed hypo 
bath of three or four ounces to the pint. At the end of this 
time, a little gentle rubbing with the finger will remove any¬ 
thing adhering to the film, and if the photographer has been 
very fortunate, he may find that the negative is not marked in 
any way. If it is spotted at all, it must then be washed for a 
few minutes, and placed in a combined toning and fixing bath, 
which will remove the spots in an hour or two, if they are to be 
removed at all. If the negative is only spotted, the preliminary 
hypo bath may be omitted. If the combined bath does not 
remove the spots in a couple of hours the case is hopeless. 

Varnishing a negative lessens very much the risk of it get¬ 
ting spotted by being printed in a damp condition ; but con¬ 
trary to the belief of many photographers, it does not remove 
the risk entirely, and if a varnished negative does get spotted, 
there is much less likelihood of removing the spots. The best 
preventive is to make sure that the film of the negative is dry 
before it is printed, to see that the pad at the back of the 
printing frame is dry also, and not to leave the print in the 
frame all night. By interposing a piece of sheet rubber between 
the back of the print and the back of the frame, as is invariably 
done when printing in platinum, an additional precaution against 
damp is taken. 

As there are many different brands of P.O.P. on the market, 
which differ amongst themselves in the composition of the 
sensitive coating, and in the details of the subsequent treat¬ 
ment, there would be little or no advantage in describing a 
method which would be applicable to all, yet probably not 
that which is best suited to any one of them. Every packet 
of P.O.P. contains a description of the treatment which'* the 
maker regards as most suitable for his paper, and this, unless 



THE P001 









THE PRINT 


183 


the photographer thinks he knows better, is what should be 
followed. 

Albumenized paper is practically obsolete. Gelatino- 
chloride paper, such as is the great majority of P.O.P. on the 
market, must only be dealt with at ordinary temperatures. If 
the solutions are at all warm, or if the prints are transferred 
from one bath to another at a distinctly different temperature, 
there is a great risk of the film blistering; while in hot weather, 
or even with the heat of the fingers, if the print has been long 
wet, the film may melt. With collodion P.O.P. there is not 
this risk, as the film is quite insoluble in water, hot or cold. 

The depth to which printing must be carried varies very 
greatly with different brands of paper, and varies also with the 
treatment to which the paper is subsequently to be exposed, in 
the shape of toning. So great is this variation that, beyond 
pointing out that as a rule the print looks a little colder in 
shade and darker in tone when dry than when wet, no generali¬ 
ties can be of much use. 

Very few of those who take up printing on P.O.P. realize 
at first the importance of thoroughly washing the prints before 
attempting to tone them. The soluble silver salts which the 
film on the paper contains must be removed, if waste of the 
gold in the toning bath is to be prevented, and the toning is to 
be even and successful. It is not sufficient in this preliminary 
washing, or indeed in any operation to which the prints are to 
be subjected, to let them lie in the dish in a mass. They must 
be separated and kept moving. The simplest and easiest 
method is to place them one by one in the dish of water, 
letting each one get limp before putting the next on the top 
of it. The pile of prints is then turned over, and taking the 
print first immersed, it is held up a moment to drain and then 
placed in a dish of clean water. Each print is transferred in 
the same way, and then the pile is again turned over, and the 
operation repeated. Five or six changes of water should be 
given, until there is not the least cloudiness in the drainings 
from the prints. If soft water is used the drainings should be 
allowed to drop into a glass containing some water, to which 
has been added a pinch of common salt, and there should be 
no cloudiness where the water from the print meets the salt 
solution. 


184 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Gold toning may be carried out in three distinct methods. 
A toning bath may be applied to the print, which is afterwards 
washed and fixed in a separate solution. Or a bath which both 
tones and fixes the print may be used. Or the paper may con¬ 
tain the materials for toning the picture, and need only immer¬ 
sion in plain water, or at least in some solution which does not 
contain gold, to yield a toned print. 

The first of these three methods is, beyond question, the best. 
Not only is the range of possible tones much wider, but the 
action is better understood, and the results, if it has been 
properly carried out, are more likely to be permanent. The 
combined toning and fixing bath is convenient; but it 
labours under the disadvantage that it will tone when the 
gold is exhausted, so that it is not easy to know whether 
the print is or is not being toned with gold ; and in the latter 
case there are considerable doubts as to the permanence 
of the final result. The range of tones in the “self-toning” 
papers is limited ; but they appeal to many who do not care to 
be troubled to make up different solutions. 

The commonest defect in gold-toned P.O.P. prints, is known 
as “ double toning.” It is due to the complete toning of 
the lighter parts of the print before the bath has had any 
appreciable action on the deeper shadows. While the high 
lights, therefore, are bluish in shade, the shadows are warm, 
often quite red. The cause lies in the use of a toning bath too 
strong altogether, and therefore too rapid in its action, or one 
which contains too large a proportion of sulphocyanide. 
Another possible cause of double toning is the use of a toning 
bath exhausted of its gold either by excessive use or from the 
presence of some impurity which has precipitated all the gold 
in the form of a black sediment. Double toning is rarely to be 
met with in prints toned in baths which do not contain sulpho¬ 
cyanide, but there is no need to avoid that salt on account of 
it if it is used in a proportion suitable to the rest of the bath. 
It is said that combined toning and fixing baths never produce 
double tones. They may, however, tone a print before the 
fixing action is complete; and thus lead to the finished print 
being imperfectly fixed. The only guarantee against this is 
the use of a separate fixing bath afterwards, which sacrifices all 
the supposed advantages of the combined bath. 





THE ORCHARD 

I5Y CLARENCE WHITE 









THE PRINT 


185 


It is possible to curtail the exposure required to obtain a 
printed out print on P.O.P. to one-hundredth of the total time, 
or even less, by developing the print. There are two methods 
of doing this. In one the developer used is an acid one, and 
the dry print is placed direct into it, developed to the required 
extent, and then toned and fixed. In the other the print is 
immersed in a “ bromizing ” solution ; this is nothing more 
than a io per cent, solution of potassium bromide, and after 
five or ten minutes is washed and developed. 

The chief trouble about the first of these development 
processes, is that there is a great likelihood that the print will 
be stained ; in fact the back of the print is almost inevitably 
discoloured, and the action often shows right through. An 
acid developer that is suitable is the following:— 


Hydrokinone 
Citric acid ... 
Sodium acetate 
Water 


... l6 gTS. 

... 40 grs. 

• • • I oz. 

• • • 20 OZS. 


The second method was introduced by the Paget Prize Plate 
Company, and is a perfectly practical process. The partially 
printed photographs, on which the image may be only barely 
visible, are immersed in 10 per cent, potassium bromide 
solution, which converts the soluble salts of silver in the paper 
into silver bromide, and prevents them from staining it. Then, 
after washing two or three minutes in running water the prints 
are placed in the developer, in which they come up to their 
full vigour in from three to eight minutes, according to 
circumstances. The developer is made up of two stock solu- 


tions as follows : — 


A. Hydrokinone 

... ... 2 grs 

Sodium sulphite 

. 8 grs. 

Water to make ... . 

• • • • • • I OZ* 

B. Potassium bromide . 

. 55 grs. 

Sodium carbonate (crystals) ... 

. 44 grs. 

Water to make ... . 

t( , • • • I oz* 


The proportions in which these two solutions are used may 
be varied. When the negative is a very flat one, and as much 


186 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


contrast as possible is wanted in the print, we may use 3 drs. 
of A diluted to 1 oz. with water and mixed with an ounce of 
B. If, on the other hand, the negative is hard and we want to 
lessen contrast, we may use more of A up to as much as 7 drs., 
diluting it to make 1 oz., and then adding an ounce of B as 
before. However much or little of A is employed, it must be 
made up to an ounce with water, the quantity of B being left 
unaltered. A medium developer would contain J oz. of A. 
On taking the print out of the developer, it must be washed 
for a moment and then placed in 10 per cent, bromide again 
for a minute or two, after which it can be well washed and 
toned and fixed in exactly the same manner as if it had been 
printed right out. P.O.P. which is to be developed in this way 
must be handled in a much weaker light than if it is to be 
printed out. Any ordinary artificial light may be used, both 
for filling the frames and for developing the prints, but daylight, 
unless it is very weak indeed, must be avoided. 

Hitherto gold-toning only has been considered ; but the 
photographer is not limited to salts of gold for the purpose. 
Very fine tones on P.O.P. can be obtained by toning with 
platinum, and another fine series by toning first with gold, 
taking care not to carry the operation too far, and then with 
platinum. The platinum salt that is most generally used 
for this purpose is potassium chloroplatinite. 

Whether the print be toned with platinum or with gold it is 
important that it should be washed between toning and fixing. 
In the case of gold-toning, in order to stop the action as soon 
as the right stage is reached, some workers put the print in 
a weak solution of common salt, washing it slightly afterwards 
before fixing. There is likelihood of discolouration if a print 
containing in Us pores some of the toning solution is put 
straight into the hypo. It is still more important in the 
case of platinum toning, since the toning solution is acid, 
and the introduction of acid into the hypo bath is always 
detrimental. 

Self-toning papers vary in the treatment prescribed for 
them even more than the others. Some of them tone in plain 
water, others need sulphocyanide or other baths. They all 
have a strong tendency to give very warm colours, whatever 
the treatment adopted, except when the print is separately 


THE PRINT 


187 


toned with platinum. Some of the best self-toning papers 
are made with collodion instead of gelatine as the vehicle ; 
and with these very fine sepia tones can be got by me<ins of 
a platinum bath, and good brown and purple tones by plain 
fixing. 

After fixing, and it is well to remember that complete 
fixing is as important as thorough washing, the hypo and the 
silver it has dissolved from the coating on the paper must be 
washed out. There are washers innumerable on the market 
for this purpose, but they vary very much in their efficiency, 
and if one of them is used reliance should only be placed upon 
it after it has been tested. For this purpose, after a number of 
prints have been washed in it for the time which is supposed 
to be sufficient, the prints should be allowed to drain as 
thoroughly as possible into clean glasses, and to the drainings 
of each a little water faintly coloured with potassium per¬ 
manganate should be added. If the colour is discharged or 
changed to a pale yellow, the washing has not been thorough. 
It is necessary to test all the prints of any one bath, as some 
from the accident of floating loose may be completely washed, 
while others which have been close together still contain hypo. 
It is this clinging together which is the great difficulty the 
designers of print washers have to overcome. In some instru¬ 
ments each print is held apart from its neighbours, and the 
trouble is overcome though in rather an elaborate manner. In 
others, reliance is placed upon the inrush of the water to keep 
the prints apart, and this may or may not be effective, depend¬ 
ing upon the extent to which the user carries out the intention 
of the designer of the washer. 

When a few prints only are to be washed, there is nothing 
quite so efficacious and so economical of water as transferring 
them one by one from one dish to another with thorough 
draining in between, the water in each dish being changed and 
the dish rinsed out between each transference. Or the prints 
may* be washed individually very quickly. MM. Lumiere 
showed, some years ago, that the washing of P.O.P. prints 
would be made much more speedy and efficacious, if the prints 
between each change were put in a mass and as much water 
as possible squeegeed out of them. Those who use “ hypo- 
eliminators ” for negatives may care to do so also for their 


188 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


prints, and permanganate used in the way already described 
is said to be effective. But plain water and frequent changes 
are best, provided the prints are kept moving separately. The 
one way in which they cannot be washed is by allowing them 
to accumulate in a mass and leaving them so. 

When the prints are fully washed they have to be dried, 
and if the surface is one of gelatine, they should not be dried 
in contact with anything to which they may stick. The best 
plan after draining them is to spread them face upwards on a 
clean towel. Blotting-paper is sometimes recommended, but 
it must be that specially made for photographic purposes, as 
common blotting-paper contains a great deal of hypo. More¬ 
over the paper soon perishes. No heat should be used for 
gelatino-chloride P.O.P., unless it has been thoroughly hardened 
with formaline, and even then it is not advantageous, though 
permissible if the prints are wanted in a hurry. Collodio- 
chloride P.O.P. may be dried by heat if it is thought desirable. 

A great many photographers are in the habit of squeegee¬ 
ing their prints face downwards on to some material, but it is 
certainly better to allow them to dry first, and then to rewet 
them to squeegee. If this is done there will be no risk of the 
prints sticking to the surface employed and tearing. The 
squeegeeing process allows of a great range of surface, from an 
extremely high gloss to a coarse matt. 

The highest gloss of all is obtained by the process mis¬ 
called “enamelling.” A sheet of plate-glass is well polished 
with French chalk, coated with enamel collodion, and immersed 
in a weak warm solution of gelatine. In this the print, which 
must have been hardened in alum or formalin if it is on 
gelatino-chloride paper, is brought face downwards on to the 
collodionized surface, and being removed from the liquid is 
squeegeed into contact all over and dried. When dry the 
print can be stripped off without any trouble, and has as 
brilliantly smooth a surface as that of the glass itself. This 
method is very little used now, as it is possibfe to get almost 
the same effect by simple squeegeeing. “ 4 

The highest gloss is that given by glass, but there is a 
greater chance of the print adhering. The glass should have 
a cream of beeswax and turpentine, or one of the ready¬ 
made preparations sold for the purpose, smeared over its 


THE PRINT 


189 


surface, as much as possible should be wiped off, and then the 
glass polished with a cloth that is free from fluff. An almost 
equally good surface can be obtained by using " ferrotype 5 ’ 
plates, a kind of japanned iron ; pulp boards are sold for the 
same purpose. Celluloid also answers well. All these, except 
the glass, may be used without the preliminary waxing, and in 
the case of celluloid this should not be attempted. With 
ferrotype or pulp boards, it is well to wax them occasionally, as 
the washing tends to remove the slight greasiness which is 
otherwise their natural surface. Instead of wax, some photo¬ 
graphers treat the glass with French chalk, but this should 
only be used for glossy and not for matt surfaces. A little 
is scattered on the surface, and then polished over and rubbed 
off by going over the glass with a clean cloth ; but the polishing 
must be done gently or the chalk will be rubbed into it too 
much. Glass has this advantage over the ferrotype, that it is 
transparent, and, therefore, by looking at the back, it is possible 
to see if the squeegeeing has been done effectively, or if there 
are any air-bells left. A sheet of thin rubber or of American 
cloth should be placed between the back of the print and the 
squeegee ; a flat squeegee is better than one of the roller pattern 
for this purpose. By the use of finely ground glass or celluloid, 
glossy P.O.P. may be given a matt surface of a very agreeable 
character and quite different from the natural matt of the matt 
papers. 

The one difficulty likely to be encountered in squeegeeing 
is the sticking of the print to the drying surface, whatever it 
may be. If the print is not thoroughly dry it is certain to 
stick, and any attempt to remove it will ruin it irretrievably. 
If the weather is warm, it is possible that the gelatine surface 
of the print has begun to decompose, and this will make it 
stick. Formaline or alum is the preventive in such a case— 
there is no remedy. If the glass or ferrotype is not properly 
clean, the print may stick. After each batch of prints has 
been dried, the squeegeeing surface should be well washed 
with a soft rag and soap and water, thoroughly rinsed and put 
up to dry. If the mounting method described in the next 
paragraph has been used, the glass or what not should be 
soaked for half an hour in cold water, and then washed with 
warm water and soap. When one is sure that the prints are 


190 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


perfectly dry, they may be held an instant before a bright fire 
or in direct sunshine, and this should be sufficient to bring 
them off. Otherwise one corner may be raised and the print 
stripped off, by pulling it gently away from the plate, and 
not by rolling it back, as a sharp curve would break the 
surface. 

One of the most convenient methods of mounting P.O.P. 
prints was one which the author saw in use at the Eastman 
Kodak works in Rochester, U.S.A., some years ago. The 
prints, as soon as they were dry on the ferrotype sheets, but 
not before, were brushed all over on the back with a glue 
made by soaking ordinary white gelatine in water, and then 
dissolving it by heat and applying it hot. This also was 
allowed to get thoroughly dry, and then the print was stripped 
off, and trimmed. If it were not to be mounted, the gelatine 
coating helped to keep it flat; while if it were to be mounted, 
all that was necessary was to damp a mount with a sponge, 
place the dry print upon it in position, and pass the two 
together through a rolling press—a domestic wringer would do 
quite well. The print came out mounted flat, and without 
that loss of gloss which follows most mounting methods when 
the print itself becomes moist. 

Trimming is best deferred until the print is quite finished. 
There are several reasons for this course. It is convenient to 
be able to trim deliberately in a good light, trying the effect of 
different shapes and sizes until one best suited to the subject 
is reached. This can be done by using two pieces of card cut 
to the shape of an L, and sliding them over each other on the 
print so as to enclose a rectangular space. By deferring 
trimming, the extreme corners of the prints, which must in¬ 
evitably get handled in the processes, are cut off, and the edges 
which hardly ever are toned quite evenly with the rest of the 
print are removed. 

Trimming is a process all prints, more or less, must undergo ; 
but it is perhaps most conveniently considered here. Prints must 
be quite dry before they are trimmed or they are sure to tear. 
The same result follows when we attempt to trim a print with 
a blunt knife. All sorts of knives are used for the purpose, but 
there is nothing better than the ordinary pocket knife, with its 
point kept as sharp as possible by frequent application of a 


THE PRINT 


191 


little piece of Washita or other suitable oilstone, which can be 
got at any tool shop. Most photographic hand-books recom¬ 
mend trimming prints on a sheet of glass, and with a glass¬ 
cutting shape. The glass is a nice surface on which to cut, 
but it punishes the knife-point terribly, and a piece of smooth 
card or linoleum is much better, though this too will soon blunt 
the knife if it is dug down needlessly deep into it. The card 
also gives a better grip to the print and prevents the cutting- 
guide from slipping. 

Glass cutting shapes are a delusion and a snare. Some little 
time ago the author, requiring a whole-plate shape, went right 
through a dealer’s large stock without finding a single one 
which was reasonably accurate, and the fault lies not so much 
with the maker as with the material, which, except at great 
expense, does not lend itself to accuracy of this kind. It is 
much better to cut with a steel straight-edge and to use a 
draughtsman’s triangle of celluloid or wood by which to get the 
corners true. * 1 

At the risk of being accused of teaching one’s grandmother 
to suck eggs, a few words on the use of these instruments may 
be given. Assuming that we 
have a print to trim, let us 
note the stages of the opera¬ 
tion. The first thing to do is 
to settle approximately with a 
cardboard L the boundaries 
which the trimmed print is to 
possess. These are not to be 
marked on the centre of the 
print, as we may find it neces¬ 
sary just to include a part we 
should have marked, but a 
pencil mark is made where 
each proposed edge cuts the 
present edge of the print. 

The square is then placed, as 
Fig. 15, with one of the sides which form the right angle 
parallel with a prominent horizontal or vertical line in the 
print, a vertical line for choice in architectural subjects, the 
horizon in sea scenes. Against this same side is placed 



Fig. 15. 


shown by the dotted lines in 










192 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the straight-edge, and then holding the straight-edge firmly, 
the triangle is slid along it, until the side at right angles to the 
straight-edge reaches the mark at the edge of the print. The 
triangle is then held firmly in its turn, and the straight-edge 
is placed along its other side, when, the triangle being removed, 
the first cut is made. In this way we can be certain that the 
edge of the print is parallel with the horizon or with the 
vertical lines of the buildings, as the case may be. Those who 
are not accustomed to this kind of work may find it safer, 
instead of cutting the print at this stage, to rule a line with a 
sharply pointed pencil. The triangle is then slid along the 
straight-edge until it reaches the second boundary of the 
print, the straight-edge is put along its other edge, and the 
second line ruled or cut, and so on with the other two. It 
ought to be done with sufficient care that when the fourth 
side has been done, the angle it makes with the first, tested 
by applying the triangle, reveals no perceptible inaccuracy 
whatever. 

One method of mounting has already been described. The 
purity of the mountant employed has a very great influence on 
the permanence of a print on P.O.P. Ordinary glue, which is 
most impure, should never be used, but the white gelatine, such 
as Heinrich’s or Nelson’s, will answer. Nelson’s “X Opaque " 
or cooking gelatine is suitable for mounting. 

A gelatine mountant may be made with spirit, which has 
this advantage, that it does not interfere so much with the gloss 
of the surface as a water mountant. Such a preparation is 
made by soaking an ounce and a half of gelatine in half a pint 
of water until it is quite soft, and then placing the vessel con¬ 
taining it in hot water until the whole is liquid. A mixture of 
five ounces of spirit of wine—methylated spirit can be used, but 
is not so suitable—and an ounce of glycerine is then stirred in. 
Too much spirit will precipitate the gelatine. This mountant 
should be put away in wide-mouth corked bottles, and will keep 
for a long time, keeping all the better if five grains of thymol 
are dissolved in the spirit. To use it, the bottle is placed in 
warm water for a few minutes, and then in hot water, and the 
mountant, which will then be liquid, is brushed over the back of 
the print. 

Another mountant is made by diluting the rubber solution 





PLAYTIME 

I',Y WILL CADUY 














































THE PRINT 


193 


sold for repairing tyres with benzol or mineral naphtha. About 
equal parts of each will be found sufficient. This mountant is 
brushed over the back of the print with a stiff brush, and the 
print is kept under pressure, after mounting, for several hours. 
Indiarubber mountant does not interfere with the gloss of a 
print in the least; but it has the very serious drawback that 
the rubber perishes after a few months and the print drops off 
its mount. It sometimes appears to stain the whites of the 
print, but this will be found to go off after exposure to the air 
for a little while. 

Ordinary starch paste is of all mountants that which is 
least likely to affect the permanence of the print ; but it 
should be freshly prepared and used cold. An excellent 
mountant of this character, but prepared by a patented 
process which gives it a curious consistence, is known as 
“ Higgins’.” It will keep very well, and is quite without any 
injurious action on the print. Ordinary gum or paste should 
on no account be used. 

With a mountant such as “ Higgins’,” which contains com¬ 
paratively little water, it is easy to mount P.O.P. prints, keeping 
their gloss. The mountant is spread over the back of the print, 
which is put face downwards on a clean piece of newspaper, 
and is quickly and evenly rubbed into the paper. There is no 
tool to equal the finger-tips for this purpose, and as soon as the 
peculiar greasy feel is noticed all over, the print is placed in 
position on its mount, another clean piece of newspaper is 
placed on the face of it, and it is well rubbed into contact all 
over, particular attention being given to the edges. The paper 
may then be changed for a fresh piece in case any of the 
mountant has exuded, and the print placed under pressure 
to dry. 

Sheets of a thin waterproof paper can be purchased which 
may be pasted with starch or mountant on to the back of the 
prints while they are yet on the glass or ferrotype. The paper 
should be slightly smaller than the print, so that when both 
are quite dry and stripped, the trimming brings both to the 
same size, and the waterproof paper enables the print to be 
mounted without loss of gloss ; but this method is going out 
of use. 

Cut-out mounts, into which the print is simply pushed into 

o 


194 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


position, are the most popular form to-day ; but are only of 
use to beginners, or to those whose photographs are simply 
records, and are not intended to have any pictorial value. 
This follows of necessity, because the cut-out mount is of a 
stock size determined by its maker, quite without reference to 
the particular print it is to surround, and its suitability 
therefore can only be occasional, and a mere matter of chance. 
For such record prints, however, they are very convenient. 
The visible portion of the print need not be touched with 
mountant at all, although a spot should be applied to one 
of the edges to keep the print from shifting about behind 
the mount. When a pile of such prints are kept together, 
loose or bound up into an album, the mount prevents any¬ 
thing from touching the surface of the print, so that they are 
very suitable where the preservation of the print is a matter 
of great importance. 

A process of dry mounting has been introduced during the 
last few years. The print has interposed between it and the 
mount a thin sheet or skin of the same size, which has been 
treated with a preparation of shellac or other resins on both 
sides. The two are pressed closely into contact by a hot iron, 
or in larger sizes in a steam-heated press, and the heat melting 
the coating on the interposed skin binds both print and mount 
to it. The advantage is twofold. Curling is prevented, since 
both print and mount are quite dry at the moment of mounting, 
while the skin insulates the print from the mount by an 
almost impermeable barrier, so that any deleterious matter in 
the card is prevented from reaching the print. 

In large sizes special apparatus, as just mentioned, is 
necessary for dry-mounting ; but the amateur will find that it is 
perfectly possible to mount small prints with nothing more of an 
outfit that a few sheets of the tissue and a hot domestic flat-iron. 
To do this, the untrimmed print should have a piece of the 
mounting tissue about its own size placed on the back of it, and 
just touched with the warm iron. The tissue will adhere to the 
print at the part touched, and the two may then be trimmed 
together. The print is adjusted in position on the mount, and 
when this has been done with the needful accuracy, one end of 
the print may be lifted up without the tissue, and the tissue 
lying on the mount touched with the iron. This will cause the 


THE PRINT 


195 


tissue to adhere to the mount also, so that the print will no 
longer shift about on the mount, since the tissue adheres in one 
spot to the mount and in one to the print. Perfect adhesion all 
over is secured by pressure with the iron. The difficulty most 
likely to be met with is that of getting the iron to the right 
temperature. If it is too hot, the tissue adheres to the mount, 
but not to the print; if too cold, to the print but not to the 
mount. 

The bending or cockling of mounted prints is to some 
extent inevitable, since we have two distinct substances united 
together, which substances may expand or contract quite 
differently in the circumstances to which they are exposed. 
If a print is mounted on a card and a spoiled print of the same 
kind, or failing that a piece of paper as like it as possible, is 
mounted in the corresponding position at the back, the pull of 
one counteracts the pull of the other, and we have the most 
favourable conditions for flatness. Keeping the mounted prints 
for some time under pressure helps to preserve their flatness ; 
and if there is any risk of them sticking, the waxed paper in 
which plates are often wrapped is a good material to put in 
between them. The tendency to curl is reduced by taking 
care that the print and its mount, when brought into contact, 
are as nearly as possible in a similar hygroscopic condition. 
Mounting a thoroughly damp limp print on a dry mount makes 
curling inevitable. The dry mounting process just described is 
almost perfect in its power of preventing cockling. 


CHAPTER XV 

PLATINUM PRINTING 


Simplicity of the process—Care of the paper—Damp—Artificial light for printing 
Suitable negatives—Development—Warm tones—The acid baths Development 
with glycerine—Permanence — Gold intensified platinum prints—Packham s 
process—Restoring discoloured prints—Printing on fabrics—Defects. 

I F simplicity in a printing method means the reduction in 
number of those processes which call for personal skill, 
and the absence of complications in the few that are left, the 
platinum process stands pre-eminent. The image is visible 
during printing, nothing like so plainly as in P.O.P., but quite 
visible enough to act as a guide. In fact, it is no harder to 
learn by looking at it when a piece of platinum paper is 
sufficiently printed than it is to do the same with a piece of 
P.O.P. In each case an allowance has to be made for altera¬ 
tion in subsequent processes, and although the alteration is far 
more in the case of platinum, this does not make the process 
harder. Besides, when the paper is taken out of the printing 
frame, all call for skill or for anything more than ordinary care 
is at an end. It is put in a developer—a plain solution of one 
substance in water—it is developed as far as it will go, and is 
quite unaffected by being left longer in the developer. In fact, 

anything from thirty seconds to thirty hours makes no difference 
to the print. When the development is over, it is rinsed 
first in weak acid, and then in water, and is finished. The 
charm of a platinum print is unquestioned. Its pure black and 
white make it suitable for every subject, without exception ; its 
plain, smooth surface, free from the slightest suggestion of a 
coating or layer, appeals to the most cultivated taste, while the 
permanence of the print is limited only by the endurance of 
the very paper on which it is printed. 

The greatest hindrance at present to its popularity, and 

196 


PLATINUM PRINTING 


19? 

especially to its use in tropical countries, is the fact that even in 
hermetically sealed tins, with a due supply of calcium chloride, 
the paper will not keep indefinitely, and in a trying climate it 
spoils in a few weeks ; although there are methods, such as the 
addition of a trace of potassium bichromate to the developer, 
by which such spoiled paper can be used. Platinum paper 
should always be stored in a cool place. 

Artificial light has been used for platinum printing, as the 
paper is sufficiently sensitive for the exposure of a powerful 
illuminant not to be prohibitively long. This at times is very 
convenient. The arc lamp can be used, and during the last 
few years the Cooper-Hewitt mercury-vapour lamp has been 
extensively employed for the purpose. A couple of mercury- 
vapour tubes with a rack to hold the frames some 8 or 
io inches away, will give twenty or more fully exposed 
whole-plate prints in io minutes or a quarter of an hour. 
But daylight is, and will probably continue to be, the light 
par excellence for platinum printing. It should be diffused, and 
not direct sunlight, and, as in the case of P.O.P. printing, 
the weaker the negative the weaker the light in which it must 
be printed, if a strong print is wanted. 

As platinum paper is distinctly more sensitive than P.O.P., 
and as the injurious effect of exposing it to light is not seen 
until the paper is developed, care must be used in filling the 
frames lest it is exposed to light too long. Damp is still 
more injurious to it, so the paper in the printing frame is 
backed up with a piece of thin sheet rubber. Indiarubber is 
not the only substance that can be used for the purpose. 
Sheet celluloid, such as can be got by cleaning the coating 
off a spoilt film negative, answers excellently. Even with this 
precaution, if the paper is left in the frame too long it will 
deteriorate, in token of which a print left all night in the 
printing frame is never so good as one made and developed 
within an hour or so. It is said that negatives for platinum 
printing should always be varnished, because of the moisture 
held in the gelatine film ; but this is an unnecessary refinement. 
When the paper is taken from the printing frame, unless it is 
to be developed at once, it should be put back into the calcium 
tube. 

A printing frame which has its hinges nearer one end than 


198 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the other will be found convenient in platinum printing, as 
more of the print can be seen, and it is easier to determine 
exactly when printing is done. The change is from a strong 
yellow to a greyish tint, and in noting how far printing has 
progressed, the grey should always be compared with the 
unaltered paper, which may be under the mask or protected by 
the edge of the frame. The printing is finished when the 
highest lights in the print are just distinguishable from the 
unaltered paper; but a few attempts show better than any 
quantity of verbal description, the appearance of the change 
and the extent to which it should be allowed to go. 

Some workers find it more satisfactory to use an actino- 
meter for printing, and not to open the printing frame at all 
until the process is finished. The subject of actinometers is 
dealt with more at length in the next chapter. There is no 
reason why one should not be used ; in fact, anything that 
tends to prevent the access of light or damp air to the paper is 
beneficial; but the idea that they are required on account of 
any difficulty in determining from the appearance of the paper 
whether or no printing has gone far enough, is erroneous. 
Prints that are to be of a sepia colour are printed a little deeper 
than black prints, and those which are to be developed in a hot 
developer need not be printed quite so far as those to be 
developed cold. 

In platinum printing, as in every other purely photographic 
method, the quality of the print depends primarily upon the 
quality of the negative. A very thin negative is not at all 
suitable for the process, although it may give satisfactory prints 
on “ gaslight ” papers, or by direct enlargement on bromide 
paper. At the same time much depends on the character of 
the subject, and the most beautiful portrait prints are made 
from negatives which the photographer of landscapes would 
think were too thin to print at all. The very best prints are 
always made from those negatives which are the hardest to 
print—from those, in fact, which must be printed “just right” 
and no more- These are the thinnest that will give good 
prints at all. If they have more contrast, they are much easier 
to print, there is a certain latitude, and a little longer or shorter 
in the printing frame only makes the print a little lighter or 
darker without actually spoiling it. But the result is never 


PLATINUM PRINTING 




quite so good. Very hard negatives—always supposing that 
they were properly exposed—are best printed on the sepia or 
the hot-bath papers, but a negative which will give a good 
carbon print, may be too dense to yield a satisfactory one on 
any kind of platinum paper. 

The definite character of the development of a platinum 
print has put out of court with it all question of remedying in 
development errors of exposure. They lead straight and 
unerringly to failure. The print is therefore placed in the 
developer until no further action is taking place, any attempt 
at stopping development prematurely giving an unsatisfactory 
print. A simple developer may be made out of a stock solu¬ 
tion of neutral potassium oxalate. 

The instructions supplied with platinum papers usually state 
that the developer should not be used at a lower temperature 
than 6o° Fahr. ; but this should be regarded as an undesirable 
minimum, and better prints will be obtained if the developer is 
always placed in warm water for a little while before use, so as to 
take the chill off. That treatment which is most congenial to a 
bottle of Burgundy is quite sufficient for the purpose, when plain 
black tones are wanted. 

The Platinotype Company still supply to order “ hot-bath ” 
paper, the predecessor in point of time of the present “cold- 
bath ” paper. This is developed on a hot saturated solution of 
potassium oxalate ; the temperature may vary from ioo° to 
i8o° Fahr., but 140 Fahr. is a suitable mean. Some workers 
prefer the hot-bath paper on the ground that it gives richer 
blacks ; but it is doubtful how far this is borne out in practice. 
Plenty of photographers develop the cold-bath paper in a hot 
developer. 

There are two methods in use for heating the developer for 
platinum prints. It may be poured into a glass flask, and held 
over a spirit-lamp either with the bare fingers or, if it is to be 
made very hot, by wrapping a few thicknesses of paper round 
the neck of the flask ; or it may be heated while in the dish in 
which development is performed. For individual prints, the 
first-named plan is convenient, the hot developer being poured 
over the face of the print as it lies in a dry dish. If plenty of 
solution is used, there need be no fear of bubbles. The latter 
is preferable if a number of prints are wanted all of the same 


200 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


tone. The dish should be one of enamelled iron, and it can be 
placed on a support, such as a brick at each end, or directly on 
a gas or oil stove. A better plan is to place on the stove a 
sheet-iron tray containing sand to a depth of an inch or more, 
and to bed the enamelled iron dish in this. When the tempe¬ 
rature of the developer is correct, the stove may be turned 
down, and it will be found that the sand helps to keep the heat 
very constant. 

The demand for the temporarily unattainable never ceases. 
Silver prints gave purple and violet tones, and photographers 
craved for a pure black. They got the platinum process which 
gave them what they wanted, and at once demanded warm 
colours in platinotype. What was asked was granted, and 
there are two or three ways by which for the black of a print 
in platinum a brown may be substituted. Mere alteration of 
the developer will do much. Using the cold-bath papers of the 
Platinotype Company, we have a range from the blue-black, 
obtained by using the “ D ” salts in a cold solution, or a cold 
solution of potassium oxalate strongly acidified with oxalic 
acid, to an orange. 

The plain oxalate solution (one in four) diluted with twice 
its bulk of water, and used at 140° to 160° Fahr., or even hotter, 
gives a strong brownish black, a very agreeable colour. If a 
kettle of boiling water is at hand, and we hold the undeveloped 
print in its steam for half a minute before developing in this 
same hot solution, the brown is still more pronounced. Generally 
speaking, the hotter and the weaker the developer, the warmer 
the colour. One worker of our acquaintance gets a very rich 
brown by boiling the oxalate bath in a glass flask over a spirit- 
lamp, and pouring the liquid out of the flask straight over the 
print as it lies face upwards in a clean, dry dish. 

Still warmer colours can be obtained by adding a trace of 
mercuric chloride to this hot solution, and it is proof of the 
minute trace of mercury that is sufficient to affect a change in 
the colour of the paper to point out that a platinum print from 
a negative that has been intensified with mercury is distinctly 
warmer in colour than one from an unintensified one, showing, 
as is indeed known to be the case from other evidence, that the 
negative had parted with a trace of its mercury, although 
hundreds, or even thousands, of such prints might be obtained 


MISS MINNIE ASHLEY 

BY' MRS. KASEBIEK 
































PLATINUM PRINTING 


201 


without any effect being manifest in the negative itself. The 
proportion of mercuric chloride to be used in the developei 
varies very much with the fancy of the user. 

A developer which gives prints of a warm brown colour on 
the C.C. paper of the Platinotype Company was described by 
Mr. C. F. Inston to the Liverpool Amateur Photographic 
Association in 1902. The following is its composition:— 

Neutral potassium oxalate ... ... . 2 ozs. 

Mercuric chloride ... . 90 grs. 

Potassium citrate ... ... ... ... ... 150 grs. 

These are covered with 14 ozs. of cold water, and when dis¬ 
solved the solution is ready for use. Equal parts of this 
solution and hot water (not boiling) are mixed together and 
poured over the dry print as it lies face upwards in a dish. 

Nothing is to be gained by multiplying formulae for these 
warm tones ; what have been given already may be taken as 
typical. So long as mercury is not present, it may fairly be 
assumed that, whatever the colour of the image, it consists of 
metallic platinum, the colour being dependent upon the size of 
the minute particles of which the image is built up. This may 
seem strange to those unacquainted with physics ; yet it is a 
common occurrence for one and the same substance to have 
differing colours at different times, due to this cause alone. So 
long as the image consists of platinum only, its permanence is 
indisputable, whatever the colour. Moreover, it is not affected 
by the acid baths used to get rid of the iron from the paper. 
But when mercury is present in the developer, the result is by 
no means such a foregone conclusion. Mr. Chapman Jones, 
who has made a special study of platinum processes, thinks 
that in such a case the image is probably contaminated with 
mercury, although in the sepia paper of the Platinotype Com¬ 
pany, in spite of the presence of mercury in the developer, he 
thinks it is not. Certainly, in the case of prints on cold-bath 
paper developed with hot solutions containing mercury, such as 
that given by Mr. Inston, the acid baths must be much weaker 
and applied for a shorter time, or the warm colour will be 
removed and a cold print of a washed-out appearance will 
alone be left. 

The Platinotype Company has always deprecated the 


202 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


attempt to get sepia tones on papers prepared for black tones, 
and has pvt a special paper on the market for those who want 
warm colours. The paper has to be developed with a solution 
of certain salts which they supply for the purpose, and yields 
prints of an excellent sepia colour, upon whose permanence 
reliance may be placed. At the same time, it is probable that 
a greater number of warm-toned prints to-day are made upon 
the black papers than upon the sepia, since the greater range 
of colour, and the fact that black or brown can be obtained on 
the same paper at will, are advantages not to be despised. 

Before the war, a long range of platinum papers giving black, 
warm black, and sepia prints was made by Gevaert, of Antwerp. 
A very beautiful variety of these was coated upon Japanese 
vellum, and supplied both for black and for sepia. For the 
latter a hot developer was used. The paper was comparatively 
expensive, a whole-plate piece costing ninepence; but with 
certain subjects the effect of the delicate semi-transparent paper 
was particularly good. It had to be handled very carefully, when 
dry, as it was very brittle, but was tough enough while it was wet. 

In the ordinary way, the print is taken out of the developer 
and placed direct into a bath of weak hydrochloric acid, 
i oz. of the acid being added to 60 or 80 ozs. of water. 
Commercial hydrochloric acid has a yellow colour, and is con¬ 
taminated with iron. As the acid is applied to get the iron 
out of the print, clearly this is unsuitable. The acid should 
be water white when looking through a thickness of 3 or 
4 inches of it. The print must on no account be placed in 
water between development and the acid bath, or the iron will 
be precipitated in the paper and will not be removable. 
Mercurially developed prints should be placed in one bath of 
J oz. of hydrochloric acid to 100 ozs. of water, allowed to 
remain in this for three minutes, transferred to a fresh bath of 
the same strength for another three minutes, and then washed 
in plain water. As the only objection to further acid baths is 
the removal of the brown colour, if it is found that more can be 
given, they should be used, as they certainly increase the 
likelihood that the print will be permanent. Ordinary black 
prints may have a minimum of three baths of the strength just 
mentioned, transferring them one by one and draining them 
well before putting them in the fresh acid. More than three 


PLATINUM PRINTING 


203 


baths are advisable when a number of prints are being dealt 
with, the instructions of the Platinotype Company stating that 
the last acid bath, after use, should be quite colourless when 
seen in a depth of 2 inches. Instead of hydrochloric acid, 
citric acid may be used, J oz. to the pint of water being a 
convenient strength, though stronger solutions have been 
recommended. This substitution makes the process a more 
convenient one for travellers, as the hydrochloric acid is too 
corrosive to be carried with ordinary luggage. 

After the acid baths the prints have to be washed to free 
them from acid. In doing this it will be found, if the acid 
baths have been too strong, or if the prints have been left in 
the acid too long, that the surface of the paper has become 
very tender, and the rougher papers may even injure each 
other by lying on top of one another. If the acid has not been 
stronger than one in sixty, and the total immersion in acid has 
not exceeded half an hour, there should be no trouble from this 
cause. Four or five changes in water, draining between each, 
are sufficient to remove all traces of the acid, and the prints 
are finished. 

It does not hurt platinum prints to dry them between 
blotters, as there is no gelatine on the surface to cause them to 
adhere. In warm weather they are best blotted off and dried 
as soon as possible. The author had some prints entirely 
ruined by being put away in summer time for about a week 
while still damp. They were blotted off as thoroughly as 
possible, a few pieces of blotting paper were arranged top and 
bottom, and the prints in a pile between them. The whole was 
put away under pressure for a few days, at the end of which 
time a fungoid growth, or mildew, which could in no way be 
removed without spoiling the print, had badly marked nearly 
every one—quite ruining them. In a dry print it is impossible 
to suppose that there would be any risk of this. 

If a developer diluted with water were applied to a platinum 
print with the idea of developing it in parts or by degrees, 
stopping the action in one place and continuing it in another, 
failure would result; because the water would dissolve and 
remove the platinum salt before the iron salt which had altered 
under the light’s action could decompose it. But if the 
developer could be diluted with some inert substance which 


204 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


would make its action gradual and under control, but which 
itself would be incapable of dissolving the soluble salts in the 
paper, we should have what we require. Such a substance 
is glycerine; and by the use of it in combination with the 
ordinary developer, the photographer has a very great power 
of control over his platinum prints—a power which he can get 
in no other way. To use the method the usual cold developer 
is mixed with glycerine in two or three different proportions 
Thus we may have three vessels—saucers are handy for the 
purpose—containing respectively J dram, i dram, and 4 drams 
of the developer, to each of which 4 drams of glycerine has 
been added and well mixed up. The print is placed face 
downwards on a piece of glass, while a little glycerine is well 
rubbed into the back with the fingers; it is then turned over 
and glycerine rubbed into the front in the same way. This 
should be done in bright artificial light, as it is very necessary 
to see what is happening, though the paper is as sensitive 
to daylight under its glycerine coating as it is at any time. 
The surplus glycerine being swept off the print on to the glass 
with the fingers, these may be washed and wiped and develop¬ 
ment taken in hand. With a brush charged with the most 
dilute of the developer-glycerine mixtures, those parts of the 
picture which are to appear in the finished print are covered, 
and then using one or other of the mixtures as may seem to be 
required different parts are brought out or held back at the will 
of the photographer. Where the action is progressing too 
rapidly the developer is wiped off and glycerine applied ; where 
it is not going on fast enough the stronger solution is used. 
In this way it is sometimes possible to get effects which are 
only to be obtained otherwise by oil printing or by bleaching. 
But the comparative rapidity with which the action takes place 
makes a great demand upon the user’s skill and decision. 
Anything once brought out is irrevocable, and it is not easy to 
stop the action at once in any particular part, nor is it possible 
Jo follow fine lines or to adhere closely to outlines, as the action 
jj.ways tends to spread. 

When carrying out any modifications of this kind—and by 
no means is the observation limited to the platinum process—it 
will be found a very great help to have a copy to which to 
work. This can be made by taking a plain, straightforward 


PLATINUM PRINTING 


205 


print from the negative and drawing on it with chalk, oblitera¬ 
ting what is not wanted, and lightening other parts, until the 
best effect is obtained. The chalk can be wiped off with a 
cloth that is slightly damp, and no attempt should be made 
with the developing process until the general effect obtained 
with the chalk is seen to be what is wanted. When this is the 
case, the copy may be fixed up behind the sheet of glass on 
which the print is being developed, and the pattern so supplied 
followed with the glycerine treatment. The process is seen at 
its best in irregular vignettes, where it is used to suppress parts 
which otherwise would interfere with the composition. It is 
said that there is sometimes trouble from uneven tones in the 
lighter parts—that is to say, those which are light, not from the 
opacity of the negative there, but from the process being 
employed to prevent them from fully developing. These are 
warmer in tint than the shadows; but using a strong solution 
of oxalate (one in four), slightly acidified with oxalic acid, the 
author has not met with any trouble on this score. 

Stieglitz and Keiley exhibited some every effective platinum 
prints in two colours a few years ago, and published a pamphlet 
giving a description of the method employed. There was 
nothing of a very startling character in the process, which was 
merely the use of a developer containing mercury for the warm 
tones—the flesh tints, as a matter of fact—and a normal 
developer for the rest; but the skill with which it had been 
used drew attention to it. No one seems to have succeeded 
since to the same extent; but the method affords scope for 
those who have sufficient taste and skill; the former requisite 
is particularly essential, as it is easy to produce the most 
absurd discords by the method. If any attempt at brushwork 
is made, on no account must the brushes used for the developer 
containing mercury be employed afterwards for the normal 
solution. The slightest trace of mercury is sufficient to change 
the tone, as we have seen, and it is quite impossible to wash a 
brush free from such slight traces. 

Prints on any part of which mercury has been used must be 
washed in the very dilute acid only, or the print will suffer. 
Any print developed with glycerine on being put into the acid 
bath should at once have its surface gently rubbed with cotton 
wool, to remove the glycerine and developer as Quickly as 


206 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


possible. If this is not done, development may go on too far, 
and the print be spoilt. 

The unalterability of platinum not only gives the process its 
distinctive note, its permanence, but it makes it particularly 
hard to modify the platinum image by those methods to which 
a silver picture is so easily susceptible. There is no known 
method of reducing a platinum print satisfactorily ; but there 
are several by which other substances can be attached to or 
deposited on the platinum, either to alter its colour or to 
intensify the image. The best and most economical method of 
dealing with a print that is too weak is to tear it up and make 
another. 

A weak print may be used as the basis for a strong one of a 
very cold tone, if this is desired, by employing Dollond’s process. 
The finished print is soaked in water until it is limp, blotted 
surface dry and placed on a sheet of glass, or on the bottom of 
a dish, and a little glycerine is spread all over its face. Then 
some of the ordinary stock solution of gold chloride (one grain 
to one dram) is taken and spread over the face of the print 
with a soft brush, mixing it well in with the glycerine. The 
print soon commences to tone and to increase in vigour, and 
the brush should be kept going over the surface as long as the 
toning is continued. When it has gone far enough the print 
should be washed for two or three minutes, placed for a minute 
in an ordinary metol developer, such as is used for negative 
work, and then again washed for half an hour or so to remove 
all traces of the developer. The developer has no visible 
action, the toning being complete when the gold is washed off, 
but is used to decompose any gold solution that may be left in 
the pores of the paper, and without such treatment might cause 
discolouration of the print afterwards. 

A curious method of toning platinum prints is due to Mr. J. 
Packham. If a finished and washed platinotype is immersed 
in a solution of the vegetable dye, catechu, the paper is not 
dyed, but the image gradually becomes brown. It was sub¬ 
sequently shown by Mr. Chapman Jones that the action 
depends on slight traces of the iron salt still remaining in the 
image after all the acid washings to get rid of it, and not on 
any action between the dye and the platinum itself. This is 
immaterial to the user of the process, and the method gives a 


PLATINUM PRINTING 


207 


fairly permanent result. Catechu, or cutch, is the dye used for 
ships’ sails, and gives them that rich brown colour which is so 
effective pictorially. Incidentally it helps to preserve the sail. 
Two drams of dyer’s catechu or cutch in powder is boiled in 
5 ozs. of water for five minutes, allowed to cool, and has added 
to it i oz. of alcohol. This forms the stock solution, and 
keeps indefinitely. Half a dram of this liquid is added to a 
pint of water, the solution is heated to 130° to 150° Fahr., and 
the print is immersed. Toning starts at once, and can be 
stopped at any moment that seems desirable, the operation 
having gone as far as it will go in about ten minutes. Toning 
may be done with a cold solution, but this takes much longer, 
up to four and twenty hours. 

There are a whole string of processes for altering the colour 
of platinum prints by depositing silver on the platinum image, 
or by toning it with uranium and then either leaving it with the 
colour imparted by that operation, or by turning it some other 
colour by reacting on the silver or on the uranium compound. 
There are several reasons why such methods are little known 
and seldom used. They all, without exception, damage the 
permanence of the print. Not that the original platinum 
image is made less permanent by them, but the applied sub¬ 
stances are liable to change. The only methods which give a 
reasonable promise of unalterability are the gold toning just 
described, and a process of intensification by depositing more 
platinum on the platinum image, which has no advantage to 
recommend it. Then in most cases the colours obtained are 
too positive—violent greens, crude blues, and assertive reds are 
seldom effective as the single tint of a monochrome ; and when 
the colours do not have this most undesirable characteristic, 
they are such as are more conveniently obtained in other ways. 
A platinum print, it may safely be said without fear of an 
accusation of unreasonable dogmatism, should be black or brown 
black ; and for these tones it has no rival in pure photography. 

After all that has been said about the permanence of 
platinum prints, it may seem to be a contradiction to talk ot 
tjieir fading, and to give a remedy for it. Strictly speaking, 
platinum prints do not fade; and if the whole of the processes 
have been properly carried out—surely not much to expect—- 
they will not alter in any way. The last traces of the iron 


208 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


cannot be eliminated without risk to the print, it is true ; but 
if any that is reasonably removable is left in, the print may 
gradually discolour, turning very much the same colour as a 
faded silver print. A bad quality, impure mount may help to 
bring about such a state of things. But this is not true fading, 
and anything that will remove the iron will at once restore the 
print to its original condition. Mr. Chapman Jones has recom¬ 
mended a solution of hydrochloric acid, one part of acid to 
twenty of water, to which has been added a few drops of a 
solution of sodium hypochlorite. Enough of this should be 
poured in to give the mixture a distinct smell of chlorine. 
Those who do not know what the smell of chlorine is like need 
not regard this as an insuperable difficulty. They can add the 
hypochlorite until they can smell something else besides the 
hydrochloric acid, and that will be chlorine. They will thus 
learn what chlorine does smell like, an increase of knowledge 
not accompanied by that increase of pleasure which is generally 
supposed to repay intellectual acquisitions. The print is placed 
in this liquid until it has reassumed its original condition, after 
which it is washed and dried. 

The platinum process has been used for printing upon 
fabrics, and at one time quite a variety of materials could be 
obtained ready sensitized for this purpose. But the demand 
was never a great one; and their manufacture has been 
discontinued. 

Some very fine exhibition work has in the past been pro¬ 
duced by making an ordinary platinum print, but taking care to 
keep it on the light side, and then sensitizing it and printing 
it from the negative a second time, this second printing being 
by the gum-bichromate process, as described in the next chapter. 
In this way, a delicacy can be got in the lighter tones which it 
would be difficult, if not impossible, to get with gum-bichromate 
by itself, while the gum picture can be used both as a means 
of control, and to give vigour and depth to the darker tones. It 
is possible also that the oil process may be used for the same 
purpose, and it is likely that it will be found superior to gum- 
bichromate as a means of producing a print in combination 
with platinum. 

What has already been said should be sufficient to show 
that the claim of simplicity for the platinum process is not 



DAISIES 


BY CARINE CADBY 









PLATINUM PRINTING 


209 


without an ample basis. There is little likelihood of trouble 
that cannot be traced immediately to careless manipulation. 
The only defects which need reference here are solarization or 
bronzing in the deepest shadows, mealiness or granularity in 
the prints, and weakness and washing away of the image. 
Solarization is not due to any imperfection in manipulation, 
but to the use of a negative that is too strong in contrast for 
the paper employed. In this respect the Kodak platinum 
paper is very notable, as with it solarization seems almost 
impossible. If the whole of the film is stripped from the 
borders of the negative so as to leave clear glass, the severest 
test that could be supplied, the print on Kodak paper will be 
found to have a deep rich black border without any tendency 
to bronze, unless the negative is very opaque. Mealy or 
granular prints may be due to weak developer or to the use of 
a suitable developer at too low a temperature, or to the paper 
being stale; but the commonest cause is damp. If the damp 
has reached the paper after it was taken from the calcium tube, 
precautions should at once be used to prevent further prints 
being spoilt in the same way. These would take the form of 
drying the negatives and pads thoroughly before the fire, and 
taking care that the paper was put back into the calcium tube 
after printing, until it was to be developed. If the damp has 
reached the paper while in the storage tube, little can be done. 
It is said that by drying the paper in an oven that is not too 
hot, and then printing it and developing with a normal developer 
to each ounce of which half a dram of a ten per cent, solution 
of potassium bromide has been added, much better results can 
be obtained. Or ten minims of the hypochlorite and acid 
liquid referred to on p. 208 may be added to each ounce of 
developer. A little carbonate of soda added to the developer 
is useful if the paper is stale; but all these are only devices to 
make the best of a bad job, and good prints can only be 
obtained by the use of paper in the best condition, kept 
perfectly dry until development, and developed in the normal 
manner. 


p 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


Tissue—The necessity for transferring—Ready sensitized tissue—Its storage—* 
Measuring the printing—Actinometers—Sensitizing tissue—Bennett’s formula— 
Drying tissue—The safe edge—Development—Single transfer—Stripping nega¬ 
tives—Double transfer—Double printing—Spotting—Carbon transparencies— 
Bichromate poisoning—Ozotype—Gum-bichromate—Mr. Mummery’s method 
—Multiple gum—Single coatings—Oil printing and bromoil. 


OTHING could have been farther from the thought of 



-1 M Mungo Ponton, ninety years ago, when he noted that 
gelatine containing bichromate, after exposure to light, lost 
its power of dissolving in warm water, than that he was making 
one of the most fundamental discoveries of photography. Yet 
such it was; and the carbon process is only one of many which 
are based upon it. It can hardly have looked very promising; 
there was no visible change of colour, or, at least, what there 
was can only have been very slight; it did not seem to lead 
to anything of importance ; the sensitiveness was not great; it 
was a mere curiosity. It was left for Poitevin, Swan, and Wood¬ 
bury to show bichromated gelatine as the most Protean of the 
genii who obey the possessor of the ruby lamp. We are con¬ 
cerned for the moment with the “ carbon ” process only, a 
process in which carbon does not necessarily play any part at 
all. Whoever dubbed it must have been content, like David 
Copperfield, Senior, to see the nests and take the rooks on 
trust. He perceived that if carbon were used as a pigment, 
the process was a permanent one, and it was the “ carbon ” 
process for ever after. 

The process in outline is simple enough, nor is it compli¬ 
cated in practice. If gelatine, potassium bichromate, and some 
colouring matter are thoroughly incorporated, and a thin 
coating of the mixture is applied to paper, we get, when it 


210 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


211 


is dry, a sensitive preparation upon which we can print. For 
the moment, we will suppose it to be printed with the back, 
or plain-paper side, towards the negative, so that the light has 
to strike through the paper to reach the coating. The precise 
nature of the colouring matter, so long as it is unaffected by 
the bichromate and is permanent, does not matter much. Such 
paper is known as carbon tissue. After exposure, no image is 
visible; but on soaking the tissue in cold water for a little 
while, and then placing it in warm water, signs of a picture 
may make their appearance, the gelatine and pigment washing 
away where the light has not yet acted. In a short time we 
shall find that no more of the gelatine will wash away, and, if 
the exposure has been correct, that the paper bears a passable 
print from the negative. It will have two serious defects, how¬ 
ever—owing to the print having been made through the paper, 
it will be grainy and coarse ; and for the same reason it will be 
the wrong way round, or reversed as regards right and left. 
The process thus outlined is nevertheless quite practical for 
large sizes, and a few years ago some very good carbon prints 
made in this way were shown by Valentine Blanchard. Subse¬ 
quently this form of the process was revived by the Rotary 
Photographic Company, who used thin sheet celluloid as the 
base, instead of paper, and so evaded the difficulty of the grain. 
In printing through the paper there is also trouble from the 
length of exposure required, and from the discolouration of the 
paper with the bichromate. Why, it may be asked by some one 
not familiar with carbon printing—why not print direct on to the 
coated surface of the paper ? The answer to this question 
brings in the whole difficulty which confronted the original 
inventors. 

The mixture of gelatine and pigment is necessarily an 
opaque, or at least a deeply coloured one. When it is exposed 
under a negative, with its outer surface next the film, the 
light strikes that surface first, makes it insoluble, and this in¬ 
solubility only extends a little way down into the film of 
gelatine. Let us suppose that Fig. 1 6 represents in a much 
magnified form a cross-section of a piece of sensitive carbon 
tissue. The paper support is shown at A, and the gelatine and 
pigment at G. The light coming through the negative reaches 
the top surface of G, and the depth below that surface to which 


212 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


its action extends is governed by the different densities of the 
negative and by the exposure. Let us suppose the shading 
represents the part of the film G, which, after sufficient exposure, 
is rendered insoluble ; H would be a high light in the print, and 
S a shadow. Now, if such a piece of tissue were put into warm 
water, it will at once be evident that when the still soluble 
gelatine, the lighter shaded part, had dissolved, there would be 
nothing to hold the insoluble film on to the paper, and it would 
float off and wash away. 

Accordingly, in the earlier stages of the process, a sheet of 
paper was cemented on to the top of the printed tissue by 

T 
C 
A 


Fio, 16. 

means of indiarubber solution, and then, when it was all put 
into warm water, the original paper support could be pulled 
away, as at P in Fig. 17, and the gelatine picture adhering to 
the fresh paper support T was not only not in danger of being 
washed away, but was in a better position for the warm water, 
which then had direct access to the soluble part of the film, to 
dissolve what was not wanted. It was this process of trans¬ 
ferring which made carbon printing a practical success. Such 
a discovery would make the reputation of an inventor, but it 
is only an incident in the long series that the world owes to 
Sir Joseph Wilson Swan. Still, as the first of that series—it 
was made in 1864—it may perhaps have prominence beside 
bromide paper and the incandescent electric lamp. 

Swan having shown the way, J. R. Johnson followed four 
years later with a remarkable simplification, which left the 
process where it stands to-day. By applying paper coated with 
gelatine to the printed carbon tissue while it was still in cold 
water, after it had begun to soften and swell, but before it had 
absorbed all the water it could hold, Johnson found that it 
went on absorbing, and in doing so cemented itself to the 
coated paper so that no indiarubber solution or other com¬ 
pound was required. 

The transferred print, like the print made through the paper 




Fig. 17. 









THE CARBON PROCESS 


213 


support, is reversed as regards right and left. In many cases 
this does not matter, but in some it is important; and Swan 
got over the difficulty by transferring first to one paper for 
development, and then again transferring the print to a “ final 
support.” In 1874, Sawyer introduced his “ Flexible Tempo¬ 
rary Support,” and the carbon process was in every respect 
what we see it to-day. 

No amateur photographer thinks of preparing his own carbon 
tissue ; he can get it in some fifty or sixty different shades, from 
two or three different makers in this country, and amongst them 
he must be hard to please who cannot be suited. One great 
feature of carbon work is that almost any pigment which is not 
affected by the bichromate may be used. The result of this is 
that there is no colour whatever in which a carbon print cannot 
be made, if it is desired. The most popular colours—and, 
on the whole, the most universally suitable—are engraving 
black, warm black, standard brown, red chalk, and standard 
purple. The last named is a colour based on that of a toned- 
albumenized print, and is not so pleasant as the others. There 
are a number of other colours—shades of brown mostly—each 
of which has its admirers, while dark blue and sea green are 
appreciated by those who do not mind their assertiveness. A 
special form is known as “ transparency tissue.” It is sup¬ 
posed to contain Indian ink as a pigment. Not that we would 
suggest that this is not so, but merely that the manufacturers 
do not commit themselves as to the ingredients used. The 
transparency tissue, as its name implies, is most suitable for 
transparencies on glass; but it may also be used for paper 
prints of a rich brown-black colour, and is distinguished for the 
extreme fineness of the pigment it contains, and for a larger 
proportion of pigment to gelatine than is usual in the case of 
tissues made primarily for prints on paper. 

Any one working the carbon process for the first time will 
probably buy the tissue sensitized ready for use ; but sensitiz¬ 
ing at home is so much more economical in the long run, is 
very little trouble, and gives quite as good results, that as soon 
as the process has been mastered, the tissue is sure to be pur¬ 
chased in its insensitive condition. When buying it sensitive, 
it is usual to find out the day of the week on which sensitive 
tissue is coated, so that it can be bought quite fresh. It is 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


214 

actually sensitive tissue that is coated, and not a mere sensitiz¬ 
ing of already coated tissue, the bichromate being added to the 
mixture that is applied to the paper. 

• One of the greatest hindrances to the popularity of the 
carbon process is the fact that sensitive tissue will not keep. 
It begins to deteriorate from the very first day, and if kept 
without special precautions is useless in a week or so. If kept 
fiat, under pressure, so as to exclude the air as much as pos¬ 
sible, it keeps longer; and in a calcium tube it will keep for 
months. But it is never so good as when it is used within a 
day or two of being made or sensitized ; and herein lies the 
advantage of home-sensitized tissue. 

The tissue, sensitive or not, looks like some curious form of 
plaster. It is not easy to distinguish the colour of the pigment 
used, as, in its thick coating, it looks almost black, unless a 
very marked colour is employed. For this reason, and to avoid 
mistakes, the colour of each piece should be written lightly in 
pencil on the plain paper back. The tissue is sold in rolls or 
in cut pieces. Sensitive tissue is best bought cut to size, as 
this reduces the risk of injury by handling; but it is more eco¬ 
nomical to buy insensitive tissue by the roll or half-roll, and to 
cut off pieces of any size or shape that happens to be required. 
In an ordinarily dry drawer or cupboard insensitive tissue keeps 
as good as ever for unlimited time. The packet of cut sensi¬ 
tive pieces should be kept in a cool place, away from gas or 
other injurious fumes to which it is almost as susceptible as a 
dry plate. Heat and damp together are particularly inimical 
to it. The surface of the sensitive tissue should be handled as 
little as possible, and if it is very dry when it is received, it 
must be unrolled or unbent carefully, to avoid breaking the 
gelatine surface. 

In addition to the carbon tissue, “single transfer paper" 
will be required ; and this also can be bought either in cut 
pieces or in the band. The cut pieces are always a little larger 
than the size of the prints for which they are to be used : 
thus, 5 by 4 is supplied for quarter-plates, 9 by 7 for whole 
plates, and so on. As the surface of the final print will be 
the same as that of the transfer paper used, this is made in 
a number of different grades to suit different tastes ; but the 
smoothest is that with which it is best to start operations, as 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


215 


the rough papers, though not inherently difficult to use, at least 
call for a little more care and knowledge. Except the tissue, 
the transfer paper, and some potash alum, the carbon process 
calls for no materials that the photographer has not got at 
hand. One or two small pieces of apparatus are necessary. 

The process of printing, not being accompanied by any 
visible change, can only be ascertained instrumentally. This is 
accomplished by means of an actinometer or print meter, an 
instrument which can be obtained in several patterns, but all 
based on the use of a piece of silver paper exposed side by 
side with the printing frame in which the carbon tissue is 
printing, the exposure being timed by the visible alteration in 
the silver paper. The simplest form of actinometer is a little 
piece of P.O.P. put underneath a negative of about the same 
density as that which is being printed in carbon. When the 
silver paper is about as dark as it ought to appear when finished 
—those who have read the chapter on P.O.P. will know that 
this is not the same thing as saying when the P.O.P. is properly 
printed out—the carbon print is about done. As P.O.P. varies 
very considerably in the speed with which it prints—as carbon 
tissue does likewise—and as it is no easy matter to decide cor¬ 
rectly that two negatives are of the same printing density, it 
will be seen that this is an extremely rough and ready guide. 
Still, it is a guide, and many workers who produce very fine 
carbon prints use nothing more elaborate. 

Johnson’s actinometer is the simplest of special appliances. 
It is a cubical box which holds a roll of sensitive paper, whose 
free end is led underneath a piece of glass coated with a brown 
paint, which is quite opaque, but has a clear hole in the middle. 
The paper gradually darkens to the tint of the patch of paint 
surrounding it. When this is reached, the instrument is said 
to register “ one tint,” and the paper is pulled on a little so as 
to expose a fresh piece. This actinometer suffers from the dis¬ 
advantage that it requires constant watching. If a carbon 
print is to be exposed for five tints, the paper must be pulled 
forward each time when it has properly darkened ; and if from 
any oversight this is not done once, and the printing is allowed 
to go on beyond the tint on the actinometer, it is only by 
guesswork that we can decide to what extent that has taken 
place. 


216 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Mr. J. R. Sawyer therefore introduced a modification of the 
Johnson actinometer, which has a scale of graduated “ densi¬ 
ties ” and takes a strip of paper, beside which runs the tint to 
be matched. There is thus no need to move the sensitive 
paper at all while making the carbon print: all that is neces¬ 
sary is to decide which of the densities represents the depth to 
which the printing should go, and to expose until the paper 
under that particular density has darkened to the standard 
tint. Wynnes print meter is another extremely neat little 
instrument of the same kind. Burton’s actinometer is a further 
elaboration. It has a row of little negatives with densities in 
front of them, and a strip of paper beneath, printing being 
continued until the selected negative has yielded a print of 
the correct depth. 

An actinometer of the Sawyer type is easily constructed, 
the densities being made by allowing pieces of thin paper, such 
as cigarette paper, to overlap one another, one density being 
formed of one thickness, two of two thicknesses, and so on. 
It is perhaps as well to point out that it must not be sup¬ 
posed that in such an instrument if one thickness of the paper 
requires a certain exposure, two thicknesses require double, 
and three thicknesses treble. The relationship is by no 
means so simple ; but if no attempt is made to employ the 
relationship of one of the densities to that of another, a thing 
that should not be done in any actinometer, the indications 
are reliable enough. Whatever form of instrument be used, 
two cautions must be given if it is to be employed successfully. 
The angle which the front of the actinometer makes to the 
incident light should be the same as that of the negative in 
the printing frame, and the same make of sensitive paper 
should always be used in it. The actinometer is placed as 
near to the printing frame as possible. If several printing 
frames are being put out at the same time, one actinometer 
will do for all of them, if they are all started together ; each 
frame is then taken in as the tint thought to be correct for that 
particular negative is reached. 

If carbon printing is regularly practised, it is a good plan 
to mark on the edge of each negative the number of tints of 
actinometer densities which are the correct exposure for it, and, 
when different colours of tissue are used, to mark the tissue, 



BROGDEN 












THE CARBON PROCESS 


217 


because the speed of tissue varies with its colour. This is 
only to be expected, since the picture is formed in the tissue 
by the depth to which the light penetrates into it and makes 
the film insoluble ; and the more opaque the coating, the longer 
does it take for the enfeebled light which can get through the 
film to make it insoluble to the depth that is required. There¬ 
fore, the more opaque the colour, and the more nonactinic its 
tint, the longer is the exposure it requires. 

There is also a considerable difference in the speed of the 
different makes of carbon tissue, and different methods of 
sensitizing have a great influence upon speed. The fastest is 
undoubtedly the ready sensitized tissue of the Autotype Com¬ 
pany, and this also has the greatest tendency to give very clean 
whites. In fact, this is so marked, that in their handbook of 
the process the company recommend that the tissue be not 
used until a day or two after it has been sensitized, as in this 
way softer and better pictures are obtained. There is no 
particular advantage or otherwise in this sensitiveness, and 
sensitized at home the tissues of the company do not show 
any superior rapidity to those of other makes. 

Sensitizing carbon tissue presents no difficulty whatever; 
and it should certainly be done by any one who thinks of 
using the process for his work generally. It is only in this 
way that it is possible to take full advantage of the range 
of colour which carbon affords. The insensitive tissue can 
be bought in pieces or in the roll, and a small stock of the 
different tints that are preferred may be kept. The night 
before any prints are to be made, one or two pieces of each 
colour wanted are taken and sensitized for use on the morrow. 
The tissue is thus printed while it is at its very best. If it 
is bought sensitive, the least that can be purchased is generally 
a dozen pieces, and these must be used up very quickly or 
they are wasted. 

Until two or three years ago, the only sensitizing liquid 
used for carbon work was a plain solution of potassium bichro¬ 
mate, to which some people added a trace of liquor ammonia 
or of potassium carbonate. In October, 1903, Mr. H. W. 
Bennett described an improved sensitizing bath which he had 
worked out, from a suggestion made by Professor Namias, 
which had certain very marked good qualities. The orthodox 


218 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


sensitizing bath to which we have referred was generally one 
of 5 per cent, strength— 

Potassium bichromate ... . I oz. 

W ater to ... ... ... ... ... • • • ... 20 ozs. 

Five drops of strong liquor ammonia were sometimes added, 
and it was usual in hot weather to reduce the quantity of 
bichromate to one-half or even one-quarter of that given above. 
This sensitizing bath keeps quite indefinitely, as indeed do 
those which are to be described. As the quantity is reduced 
by being absorbed by the tissue, fresh may be added so as 
to keep the bulk about the same. A Winchester quart 
(80 ozs.) is a convenient quantity to make up for sensitizing 
tissue up to 15 by 12 inches in size, but the greater the depth 
of solution in the dish, the easier does the operation become. 

The sensitizing bath recommended by Mr. Bennett is made 
by dissolving an ounce of potassium bichromate in a pint of 
water, and a quarter of an ounce of citric acid in about the 
same quantity, and mixing the solutions. Strong ammonia 
is then added, two or three drops at a time, stirring after each 
addition, until the colour of the liquid changes from the deep 
orange red of the bichromate to a lemon yellow. As soon 
as this stage is reached no more ammonia is added, but the 
bulk of the liquid is brought up to 50 ozs. by the addition of 
water, and the sensitizing solution is ready for use. With 
some makes of carbon tissue, one-third this quantity of ammonia 
was found to be sufficient. This quantity is ascertained by 
taking one-third of the total bulk of bichromate and citric 
acid solution, adding ammonia until it changes colour, and 
then mixing it with the remaining two-thirds to which no 
ammonia has been added. It is not possible to give the 
quantity of ammonia, as this depends upon the nature of 
the sample of bichromate used and upon the strength of the 
ammonia solution, which latter is variable, the solution becoming 
weaker every time the bottle is opened. The only way is to 
judge by the change of colour, as has been described ; but this 
is very marked, and involves no difficulty at all in practice. 

Variations in the strength of the sensitizing bath and in the 
length of time the tissue is immersed in it, give corresponding 
variations in the character of the prints. The stronger the 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


219 


solution, the softer will be the contrasts in the print; to obtain 
uniform prints from the same negative, not only should the 
sensitizing bath always be the same strength, but the tissue 
should always be immersed in it for the same time. The bath 
made up according to Mr. Bennett’s formula, and used for 
two minutes, will be found to give a very satisfactory tissue. 
The Autotype Company recommend a bath which is practically 
a 5 per cent, solution of bichromate, applied for three and 
a half minutes, a time which is easily checked by means 
of one of the little “ egg boilers.” As potassium bichromate 
is largely used for manufacturing purposes there are several 
qualities on the market, some of which are anything but pure. 
It should be in clear orange-red crystals, with little or no paler- 
coloured dust adherent. The powdered bichromate, sometimes 
sold, should be avoided ; both because its appearance gives no 
evidence of its purity, and it is exceedingly hard to dissolve, 
caking together and taking a long time. 

A squeegee, a dish, a sheet of glass a little larger than the 
tissue, and a few dark-room pins are needed for sensitizing. 
A piece of the tissue, which should always be cut a little 
bigger than the finished print, to allow an edge for handling, 
is taken in both hands, and bent into a convex shape, with the 
coated surface outwards and downwards. Held like this the 
convex part is pushed under the sensitizing liquid in the dish, 
and then the hands being separated and lowered the rest of 
the sheet is submerged, starting from the centre and finishing 
at the edges, when it should all be underneath the surface ; 
the time is then noted. In this way any air-bells are pushed 
to the ends and broken. If any air-bells are seen on the back 
they may be broken by touching them with the fingers, and 
the tissue is then turned over and the face attended to in the 
same way. A broad camel-hair brush is a convenience at this 
stage, and by brushing it gently once or twice in both direc¬ 
tions across the face of the tissue all risk of air-bells is 
prevented. At the end of the time, the tissue is picked up 
by two corners, allowed to drain for a few seconds, and then 
placed face downwards on the sheet of glass and gently 
squeegeed from one end to the other to get rid of surplus 
bichromate solution. This is the only purpose of the squeegee¬ 
ing, and it must be done without any vigour or the tissue will 


220 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


be injured. The sheet of tissue may then be pinned up by two 
of its corners to dry. 

All these operations can be done in broad daylight, as 
carbon tissue is only sensitive when in its dry state. Tissue 
sensitized on a plain bichromate bath must be dried where 
there is no risk of it being injured by gas fumes, which render 
the outer surface insoluble, and so prevent clean high lights 
from being obtained. If the citric acid and ammonia sensitiz¬ 
ing solution is used, the tissue is far less likely to suffer, and 
may be dried in any ordinary room from which daylight is 
excluded. 

If, after sensitizing, the tissue is squeegeed down on to 
one of the opaque pulp boards which are supplied for squeegee¬ 
ing P.O.P., or on to a ferrotype sheet, it may be dried 
without removal from the ferrotype or pulp. This has several 
advantages. The opaque substance screens the face of the 
tissue from the light, and as the bichromate stains the paper 
back a very non-actinic colour, the tissue may be dried 
without injury from daylight in an ordinary room. It would 
be possible by placing it in a direct and strong light to spoil 
it in the process ; but by avoiding any deliberately unnecessary 
exposure, the proceeding is quite free from risk. As the front 
surface of the tissue is that which forms the delicate high 
lights of the picture, and as anything which affects it is there¬ 
fore more injurious than if it affected the back where it washed 
away, an absolute protection against fumes is afforded by 
drying the tissue in this manner. Finally the tissue leaves 
the ferrotype with a very glossy surface, which allows of the 
most perfect contact between tissue and negative during 
printing. Against this must be set the fact that drying in 
this manner takes longer, and requires a number of pulp boards 
or ferrotype, which must be perfectly clean. 

On no account must the tissue be printed until it is perfectly 
dry, as if it sticks to the negative, as it will do if it is at all 
moist, the negative is ruined, while if any bichromate is 
absorbed by the negative, it is equally fatal, and a mark will 
be made which by no ingenuity can be removed. As there is 
no occasion to examine the progress of printing, the frame 
may have a solid back, or we may even dispense with the 
frame altogether. For large negatives the author uses a 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


221 


drawing-board, on whose smooth surface the sheet of tissue 
is placed, covered by the negative, and the two pressed into 
contact by means of a sheet of stout plate-glass, which is 
prevented from sliding about by means of a few dark-room 
pins as described later on. 

If an ordinary frame is used with a negative the full size of 
it, the precaution now to be described is not so necessary; but 
with a drawing-board what is called a “safe edge ” is important. 
If a clear shadow on the negative comes right at the edge of 
the picture, the tissue underneath may be rendered insoluble 
so completely that it will not adhere to the transfer paper in 
development, but will form a kind of pocket or frill, underneath 
which the water will get, and may detach still more of the 
film from what should be its support. For this reason it is 
customary to provide all negatives that are to be printed in 
carbon with a black opaque border, preferably on the glass 
side. It need not be more than an eighth of an inch wide, 
and can be made with a brush and a little Brunswick black ; 
but the usual method is to use the narrow strips of black paper 
sold for binding lantern-slides ; they may be cut down the 
middle, as they are wider than is needed. By applying the 
“safe edge” to the glass side its border is vignetted a little 
into the picture, and there is no sharp edge of insoluble 
gelatine standing up on the paper. The “ safe edge ” ensures 
the extreme edge of the print being composed of soluble 
gelatine, which on development forms a kind of buffer, and 
prevents the film from washing up. For a similar reason, as 
the edges of a piece of tissue are invariably the parts which 
are first attacked by that gradual insolubility which constitutes 
its deterioration, it is decidedly convenient to sensitize pieces 
slightly larger than the negative to be used, and to trim a 
quarter of an inch off the tissue on all four sides, before 
exposing. If small sizes are worked, a better plan is to sensitize 
pieces a little more than twice or four times the size required, 
and to cut these pieces out of the middle. 

The tissue, after being sensitized, is of course kept in the 
dark until it is required for use, and after it is taken out of 
the printing frame, it is similarly preserved from light. If it 
is put into a calcium tube, it may be kept for a long time be¬ 
tween printing and development without alteration of any kind, 


222 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


provided the drying action of the calcium is efficiently performed. 
But if there is any moisture whatever present in the tissue, it is 
subject to a curious phenomenon, first discovered by Sir William 
Abney, and known as “the continuing action of light.” The 
action started by light under the negative proceeds in darkness, 
very much in the same way as if the tissue were still being 
printed. The result is, that a print half done, if put away for 
some time before it is developed, may be found to yield as 
vigorous a picture as it would have done had the printing been 
complete and development followed on at once. Where carbon 
printing is constantly being carried on, it has been found possible 
to take advantage of this continuing action to shorten the time 
of printing when the light is poor, but when using the process 
in a small way and at intervals, as an amateur does, this is too 
risky to be worth attempting; since the rapidity of the action 
varies with the temperature and with the degree of moisture 
present. When development has to be postponed, this phe¬ 
nomenon may give rise to trouble ; and it is particularly prone 
to lie in wait for the skilful carbon printer who has accepted 
the invitation of the secretary of his Photographic Society to 
“come down some evening and give us a demonstration.” He 
is in the habit of printing and developing in close succession, 
and either forgets all about the continuing action, or at least 
greatly underestimates it, and in the interval between printing 
in the daytime and development before the Society at night, 
the tissue has actually overprinted. It is a curious fact, and 
shows how persistent is the tendency to underrate this action, 
that the author, who has seen many such demonstrations, has 
hardly seen one in which the prints were not distinctly darker 
than was intended from this cause, and has certainly never come 
across a single case in which they were too light from excessive 
allowance having been made for the continuing action. 

Up to the stage that we are now considering, the single 
transfer and the double transfer carbon processes are identical; 
but we are now at the point at which they differ, though only 
slightly. The reversal as regards right and left, which is the 
one drawback of single transfer, for many subjects is quite un¬ 
important. In pictorial work generally its influence has never 
been carefully studied, and many photographers would say that 
provided the picture did not purport to represent any known 



THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 


13Y WALTER BENINCTON 








THE CARBON PROCESb 


223 


subject with which it could be compared, and its reversal thus 
detected, it did not matter which way round it was. This does 
not apply of course to the case of portraits, in which this is very 
important, much more so than many think. If the wedding- 
ring is shown on the wrong hand, the observant eye of a lady 
detects it instantly, though without so self-evident a clue she 
might see the portraits of all her friends reversed right for left, 
and never detect that there was anything wrong at all: showing 
that her observation was superficial and limited, as indeed is 
that of most people. Any one who cares to take the trouble 
to study a face, as a painter has to do who would portray it 
properly, knows that the two sides of it are never alike. 
“Nature knows no equality,” said an orator, “and the only 
equality possible artificially is in the voting power of St. 
Paul and Judas Iscariot in the ideal democracy.” Without 
following him into politics, we may note that his sweeping 
generalization is true enough of the two so-called symmetrical 
halves in which the human being can be regarded ; although 
the extent of the difference varies very much. Still there 
always is a difference, especially noticeable in the face, and a 
very little observation will show it. In landscape, too, the 
effect may be decidedly different in two pictures, identical in 
all respects except as regards this reversal of right for left; 
and the subject is one which might well receive the attention 
of a critic of analytical turn of mind. It would necessitate the 
careful study of a large number of pictures if any generalization 
of value is to be drawn up; for there has already been far too 
much verbiage on subjects of this kind that seems only to have 
been evolved from its writers’ inner consciousness, and not based 
upon any thoughtful analysis of examples, which alone could 
give a result of any value. 

While the single transfer process, if the print is made from 
a glass or film negative in the ordinary way, gives a reversed 
picture, there are several ways of preventing this from being a 
reversal of the original subject, without having recourse to 
double transfer. If the negative is on a film, printing may be 
carried on with equal ease, and with almost equally good 
definition from either side. All we have to do is to print in 
carbon from the opposite side of the film to that ordinarily 
placed next the sensitive material. If the negative is on glass, 


224 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


it may be stripped therefrom, or “ filmed ” as it is called, and 
printed from the reverse side in the same way. If the negative 
is to be specially made for single transfer carbon, the plate may 
be put into the dark slide the wrong way round, with its glass 
side towards the lens ; but this is rather a brutal proceeding. 
The exposure is increased, there is danger that the spring of 
the dark slide may injure the surface of the film, and a backed 
plate cannot be used, though this is only troublesome if the 
plate is already backed, as halation is not likely to arise, for 
obvious reasons. Then, again, the thickness of the glass is not 
precisely known, yet it must be allowed for in focussing—a thing 
generally done in a happy-go-lucky way by reversing the focus¬ 
sing screen. Last, but not least, any imperfection on th-e surface 
or in the body of the glass of the plate prints itself on the 
negative with the approximately parallel rays from the lens, 
though it might never show when printing in the ordinary 

manner in diffused light. A fairly good 
string of objections, surely! A much 
better plan is to employ a right-angled 
prism in front of the lens, which reflects 
the image, and in doing so reverses it. 
This is the method employed by process 
workers to obtain reversed negatives. If 
the prism is too costly, a piece of plate- 
glass, silvered on the surface, which can 
be got from a good optician comparatively cheaply, may be 
substituted with a fairly good result. 

Single transfer paper of the thin smooth character generally 
used requires no preliminary soaking, but if a rough or thick 
paper is employed, it must be soaked for some time before use. 
Very rough papers should have at least an hour in cold water, 
or, if this is not possible, they should be put for ten minutes or 
so in warm water and then be transferred to cold. The whole 
secret of successful transferring lies in the selection of the 
proper moment at which to bring tissue and transfer paper into 
contact. Unless the tissue is quite dry when transferring is 
begun this moment cannot be ascertained properly. The print 
should feel quite stiff, or, at least, it should not be limp. A 
sheet of glass, or a board covered with a smooth piece of 
zinc, and a flat, not a roller, squeegee are the most suitable 



Fig. iS.— A Reversing 
Prism. 







I5RIAR ROSE 


15V J 


CRL'WYS RICHARDS 











THE CARBON PROCESS 


225 


implements. The transfer paper, a little larger than the tissue, 
is placed, face upwards, on the bottom of a dish of clean water, 
and the piece of printed tissue is immersed in the same dish, 
and looked to that no air bells remain on it back or front. It 
will curl up with the coated side inwards for a moment, but 
very soon it will be noticed that the tissue starts uncurling. 
This is the sign that it is in the right state for transferring, and 
it must be at once arranged, face downwards, in position on the 
transfer paper, the two withdrawn from the water together, and 
laid on the glass or zinc. The squeegee is then applied 
vigorously, but not violently, in all directions, to bring the two 
surfaces without loss of time into close contact. If the operation 
has been carried out properly the tissue will go on absorbing 
water, will suck up all the thin film existing between its surface 
and that of the transfer paper, and will adhere closely to it. 
The operation need not be performed in a hurry, but it must 
not be carried out too deliberately, or the favourable moment 
will have gone by ; and when once the tissue has fairly flattened 
itself in the water, it has absorbed as much as it will, and no 
degree of squeegeeing or of pressure will make it adhere. 
After squeegeeing, the two papers may be left for fifteen or 
twenty minutes on the squeegeeing board, or between blotters, 
or hung up, while preparations are made to develop the print. 

Warm water is the only developing agent required by the 
carbon process, and the wonderful way in which under its 
influence the repellent black mass, which is all that is visible at 
first, gradually reveals a picture in all the gradations of light 
and shade, has a curious fascination for those for whom famili¬ 
arity has not made the phenomenon seem a matter of course. 
There is no need to use a thermometer, as slight differences of 
temperature in the water do not make any very great difference 
in the result, but it is well not to have the water too hot to 
start with. It should feel agreeably warm to the hands and 
nothing more, and if this is examined with a thermometer it 
will be found to be from 105° to 115 0 Fahr., according to the 
callousness of the photographer. Before being at the trouble to 
develop a print it is well to make sure the tissue is in good 
order. In fact, if the tissue has been kept for more than a day 
or two after sensitizing it is a wise precaution to see that it is 

soluble, before being at the trouble to print on it. This is done 
Q 


226 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


by taking a small strip, allowing it to soak in cold water for a 
minute or so, and then holding it so that half of it is immersed 
in the warm water. The gelatine and pigment will wash away 
leaving the paper support quite white, if the tissue is in good 
order. < 

The print adhering to its transfer paper is slid into the warm 
water, tissue uppermost, and left there for a minute or so. 
Before that time has elapsed, coloured gelatine will be seen to 
be oozing out at the edges all round, and this is generally taken 
as a sign that the paper may be stripped off. It is well not to 
hurry it, as nothing is gained by so doing, beyond the risk of 
pulling some of the image off with the paper, and so spoiling 
the picture. When there is no doubt about the dissolving 
action being general, one corner of the paper is raised and it is 
skinned off with a smooth unbroken pull, leaving a dirty-looking 
dark coloured mass on the transfer paper. The warm water may 
be gently splashed over this with the hand, or the print may be 
left undisturbed for a few minutes. In either case signs of the 
picture will soon appear, and it will become more and more 
visible by the washing away of the soluble pigment and 
gelatine. If the print is allowed to lie on the surface of the 
water, face downwards, it will gradually develop spontaneously; 
but if this method is adopted it is most important that there 
should be a good depth of water beneath it—enough at any rate 
to remove all risk of the face of the print coming into contact 
with the bottom of the dish, which would almost certainly 
injurs it. Most carbon workers prefer to support the print, 
face upwards, on a sheet of glass and pour warm water over the 
face of it, there being a widespread belief in the power of 
modifying the tones of a carbon print by so doing. A stream 
of warm water is directed on to those parts which are to be 
lightened, avoiding the rest of the print. There is a slight 
power to be obtained in this way, but it is much overestimated 
as a rule, and if there is to be local alteration of this kind, the 
only method that is really satisfactory is by work on the 
negative, such as is discussed in Chapter XX. 

It is not possible to stop developing a carbon print just 
when the vigour of the result seems to make it desirable, and 
the operation must be continued until most of the gelatine, 
which is still soluble at the temperature of the water that is 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


227 


being used, has been removed. If this is not done, there is great 
risk of the surface being covered with greasy-looking mottling. 
At the same time, it is possible to control the strength of the 
image that shall be left, by the temperature of the developing 
water. With equal printing, the hotter the water the lighter 
and softer the resulting print. Over-printed tissue is therefore 
all the better for being developed in hotter water than usual, 
while under printing may be compensated to a certain extent 
by cooler water. It may happen that the development has 
gone far enough to prevent mottling, but the print is a little 
muddy in appearance. By drawing a tuft of cotton-wool over 
its surface while still under the water, a certain quantity of 
pigment and gelatine will be removed, as will be seen by 
looking at the wool, and the print will be cleared up a little. 
The same result can be obtained by the use of a camel-hair 
brush. 

Any manipulation at this stage must be done with the 
utmost gentleness if the print is not to be ruined, and it should 
only be tried as a last resource, and on a print otherwise value¬ 
less. The thin film of gelatine on the transfer paper, especially 
in the highest lights, where it is of microscopic thickness only, 
is most delicate, and the slightest roughness will remove it and 
leave an unsightly mark. If the temperature of the water is 
too high there will be great risk of blisters on the prints. A 
safe rule is never to use water which is too hot for the hands. 
The developing water soon gets dirty, from the dissolved 
pigment, but this does no harm to the prints. 

The carbon print when developed is virtually finished. Its 
appearance is almost that which it will have at the end of the 
process, and if it were hung up just as it is and dried, it would 
be permanent. It is customary to give the prints an alum 
bath after developing, as this has two advantages—it hardens 
the film, preventing accidental injury while drying, and it 
removes the slight yellow tint due to the bichromate, which is 
still to be noticed in the developed picture. A five-per-cent, 
solution of alum, best made by dissolving a couple of ounces 
of potash alum, the alum of the oilshops, in a few ounces of 
boiling water and diluting it to make a quart, is all that is 
necessary, and the developed print, having been placed for a 
few moments in cold water, is put into the cold solution of 


228 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


alum, in which it may be left for anything up to an hour or 
more. The exact time is not important, provided the colour 
is completely discharged, which should be ascertained by 
holding the print up to the light and looking through it. It is 
then washed for a few minutes to get rid of most of the alum, 
and is hung up to dry. 

Besides the very great range of colours which the carbon 
process enables us to use, there is almost as wide a range of 
paper textures. The tissue manufacturers supply a number of 
different transfer papers for the process, both smooth and rough, 
of varied tints and with varied grain. The Autotype Company 
have a great variety, and it is well worth the time of the 
enthusiastic carbon printer to find out precisely what transfer 
papers the company is in a position to supply at any particular 
time, over and above the ordinary kinds which figure regularly 
in its price list. But when all the commercial papers have 
been obtained, we are only on the fringe of the possibilities 
of carbon printing. 

It is quite an easy matter to prepare any paper not abso¬ 
lutely rotten in texture, so that a carbon print may be developed 
on it. All that has to be done is to give it a sizing of gelatine 
of such a character that it shall not dissolve off in the warm 
water. 

The simplest method of preparing transfer paper is that given 
in the “Autotype A.B.C.” Two solutions must be prepared, one 
of an ounce of Nelson’s No. I gelatine in a pint of cold water, 
dissolving by heat after allowing the gelatine to soften, and the 
other of twenty grains of chrome alum in two ounces of hot 
water. Both the solutions are made hot, and, the gelatine 
being stirred, the chrome alum is added a few drops at a time. 
The selected paper is immersed for a minute in the warm 
mixtuie, taking care to break air-bells which form, and is then 
hung up to dry. Or the gelatine solution may be spread over 
its surface with a brush or sponge, taking care to rub it well in, 
especially if the paper is a rough one. Another sizing solution 
which haa been recommended for the purpose is made by 
boiiing for half an hour or so, three ounces of shellac and an 
ounce of borax in a pint and a half of water. Shellac is not 
soluble in water, but will dissolve slowly in a hot solution of 
borax, and so will form a water-varnish, in which the paper 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


229 


may be immersed and then hung up to dry. If a piece of 
some particular paper is wanted in a hurry for a single transfer, 
it may be dipped in one of the ordinary cold or celluloid 
negative varnishes and dried. 

Tinted papers, if not too dark, form very effective supports 
for prints on carbon tissue, and their use has hardly been as 
extended as the facilities which they afford for certain effects 
might lead one to expect. Even brown paper, at times, gives 
very pleasant results, though the power which the crayon 
worker possesses of picking out his highest lights in white is 
one the carbon worker does not enjoy, and one whose absence 
limits the applicability of the deeper shades of paper. 

Double transfer is not very extensively used by amateur 
photographers, but is more the process for the professional 
portraitist of the better class. The method does not differ 
very greatly from single transfer. The tissue, after being 
printed, is transferred, not to a final support, but to a temporary 
one on which the print is developed. The most convenient 
medium is Sawyer’s “ Flexible Temporary Support,” a coated 
paper whose surface has to be waxed before use. It is best to 
buy the waxing solution ready made, but it may be prepared 
by dissolving six drams of yellow resin and two drams of pure 
beeswax in a pint of turpentine. A day before the flexible 
support is to be used, a little of the waxing solution is poured 
on to it and rubbed all over with a piece of flannel. With a 
fresh piece the support is given a final polish, taking care that 
it is not left in a streaky condition, and the support is then 
pinned up to allow the turpentine to evaporate. Or the waxing 
solution may, instead, be applied to the ground surface of a 
piece of fine matt opal glass. The opal or the flexible support 
is used exactly as the single transfer paper, and the print 
developed on it, washed, and alumed. The flexible support 
requires a longer soaking in alum to remove the bichromate 
stain than does the opal, but otherwise the treatment is identical. 
The prints may then be dried, or may be brought while still 
wet into contact with the paper upon which finally they are 
to rest. 

The final support in double-transfer work, should have a 
thicker coating of gelatine than in single transfer, and is there¬ 
fore best bought ready coated. It should be cut up into pieces 


230 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


a little larger than the pictures on the opal or flexible support, 
but smaller than the support itself, and soaked for half an hour 
in a solution of half an ounce of alum in twenty-five ounces of 
water. It is then transferred to a dish of cold water, from 
which it is taken for use. A dish of water which is just warm 
is wanted for the transferring process, and the print on its 
temporary support of opal or paper is placed for a minute or 
so in this, the final support is immersed in it also, brought with 
its coated side in contact with the print, and the two are 
brought out together, laid on a flat surface, and gently 
squeegeed. If opal is used, it is well to put it away under 
gentle pressure for twelve hours, with some blotting-paper 
lying on the print, but if a paper support is employed it may 
just be hung up to dry. After twelve hours, the opal is allowed 
to finish drying in a vertical position or in a rack, and when 
dry the finished prints should fall off it without stripping. If 
not, and one is quite sure they are dry, they may be coaxed off 
by raising one corner with a pin. There should be no trouble 
at all in stripping prints from flexible support ; the opal gets 
better with repeated use, if it is waxed but is not washed 
between each. The flexible support may also be used over 
and over again, and if for any reason a print on it is spoilt, it 
is good economy to transfer it to a final support all the same, 
as this is the best way to clean the temporary support ready to 
use again. 

Prints on flexible support, when transferred, have a fine 
glossy surface almost equal to that on glossy P.O.P. If the 
matt opal is used, the surface is not so shiny. In either case, 
if there is any dulness of the surface it may be removed by 
gently rubbing it with a piece of flannel moistened with 
methylated spirit or with benzol. 

The subject of printing in clouds is dealt with elsewhere, 
but there is a method of doing so which is only applicable to 
the carbon process, and therefore is more conveniently con¬ 
sidered here. In this method, the landscape is first printed, 
transferred, and developed. The clouds are printed to the 
requisite depth, the tissue being marked so that the position 
of the clouds and skyline on it may be known thereafter. 
This may be done in pencil on the back. The landscape print, 
having been alumed, washed, and dried, is allowed to soak in 



WASSILI SAFONOFF 


BY 


Ft'RLEY LEWIS 









THE CARBON PROCESS 


231 

water exactly as if it were a fresh piece of transfer paper, am? 
the cloud tissue is squeegeed down upon it in the position 
desired. Pencil-marks on the margin of the landscape, print 
make this process easier. The clouds are stripped and 
developed in the usual way, and when the cloud-picture has 
been brought to the right depth, a fine brush with stiff hairs— 
a sable does very well—is employed to remove the image of the 
clouds from those parts where it unduly overlaps the landscape 
print. With eare this can be done to conceal all junctions 
whatever, so that the clouds and landscape show no trace of 
their separate origin, provided of course, always, that they do 
not give the secret away by their incompatibility. 

The spotting of a carbon print is best done by taking a 
little strip of the tissue while it is still soluble, dissolving it in 
hot water, and putting it aside in a tall vessel to settle. If it is 
left a week or two all the better. The water is then poured off 
as closely as possible, leaving a little pigment at the bottom, 
which may be mixed up with a little gum and employed with 
the certainty that in colour it is a perfect match with prints on 
the same tissue as that which yielded it. 

There is only one other modification of the carbon process 
that need concern us here, and that is the development of 
carbon prints on plain glass for transparencies. This has a 
twofold application. The transparencies may be used for 
ordinary purposes of decoration or for lantern slides, or may 
be backed up with suitable material and framed just as if they 
were paper pictures, and they may also be used as the means 
of duplicating negatives either the same size as the original or 
larger. It is, unfortunately, only too obvious to those who 
attempt it, that in making a positive from a negative on an 
ordinary gelatine plate, whether by contact or in the camera, 
and then making a fresh negative from that positive by a 
repetition of the process, there is a very serious falling off in 
quality This is always seen to take the form of a falsification 
of the intermediate tones of the picture, and theory shows us 
that it is inherent in the dry-plate process. This falsification 
does not take place in carbon printing, and we may therefore 
make a positive transparency on glass by means of carbon, and 
from that make any number of carbon negatives, which, with 
proper precautions, may all be identical in character, and, what 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


232 

is more important still, may be faithful transcripts of the 
original negative. Such negatives will be practically the same 
size as the original, though, in consequence of the expansion of 
the tissue, they will not be quite accurate in this respect. If 
we want an enlarged negative, we are bound to use a dry plate, 
but we may at least use the carbon method either to make a 
transparency by contact from which to enlarge, or to make a 
contact negative from the enlarged transparency, and in so 
doing we get rid of half the inherent falsification which we 
should get by employing the dry plate both for transparency 
and negative. Valuable negatives, which cannot be replaced, 
or at least which can only be replaced with great difficulty or 
expense, should always have a carbon transparency made from 
them before they are printed in any other way or exposed to 
risk of damage. It costs little, it is very little trouble, and is a 
guarantee that if anything should happen to the negative it 
can be duplicated. 

The process of making glass transparencies in carbon is 
very similar to that of making prints, but certain precautions 
have to be taken which are not necessary when the prints are 
being made on paper. The glass must have a preliminary 
coating of gelatine, to ensure the adhesion of the film. After 
thorough cleaning with soap and water, followed by rinsing, 
the glasses should be immersed in a solution made by dis¬ 
solving six drams of Nelson’s No. I gelatine in a pint of warm 
water, and adding enough bichromate to give the solution a 
sherry colour (Autotype formula). This should be filtered 
while warm through a tuft of cotton-wool, and if, on taking a 
plate out of it, the solution seems to run off it as if the surface 
were greasy, the plate must be rubbed with a clean flannel 
dipped in the gelatine until it is seen that its surface is 
thoroughly wetted. The glasses are then placed in a rack to 
drain and dry in daylight, so that the bichromate may make 
the thin gelatine coating upon them insoluble. The author has 
succeeded in making some very good carbon transparencies by 
coating the clean dry glass with ordinary celluloid negative 
varnish as a substratum instead of gelatine. The varnish 
seemed to hold the tissue equally well, and, contrary to ex¬ 
pectation, did not show any sign of stripping off the glass when 
this was placed in warm water to develop the picture. 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


233 


If the exposed tissue is collodionized before applying it to 
the glass, it is a little extra trouble, but this is always repaid 
in quality. To do this, the piece of tissue must be at least a 
quarter of an inch larger on all sides than the negative, and 
after printing this edge is turned up, and the tissue fastened to 
a flat piece of wood with four pins, one corner of the tissue 
overhanging the wood. Some enamel collodion is poured into 
the flat dish thus formed, and after tilting it so that it will flow 
all over, is poured out again and the tissue stood up to dry, 
which it will do in a few minutes. This must be done in very 
weak daylight or by artificial light, not too near a naked flame, 
as the ether in collodion is very inflammable. When the coat¬ 
ing is dry, the print is immersed in water and transferred to the 
glass just as to a piece of transfer paper. The squeegeeing 
must on no account be violent or the transparency may be 
marked. Undue pressure in the printing-frame may also cause 
marks, especially if the tissue when in the printing-frame is at 
all limp. If the carbon transparencies are to be used for 
enlarging, these marks are comparatively unimportant, as even 
in very bad cases they may be quite invisible on the enlarge¬ 
ment, but when the transparencies are to be viewed direct, they 
must be avoided. 

A good many amateur photographers seem to shun the 
carbon process because of a mistaken impression as to its 
difficulty. This is due in a great measure to the unfamiliarity 
of the processes by which a carbon print is made, differing so 
very greatly from those of other printing methods. When 
they do not allow themselves to be daunted by imaginary 
obstacles and plunge boldly in, they are surprised at the ease 
with which carbon prints can be made, and particularly at the 
absence of mysterious defects. There is very little that can go 
wrong in a carbon print, and if anything does help to make it 
what it should not be, the cause is generally easily detected, 
and precaution taken against it in the future. The sensitizing 
bath must not be too strong, nor must it be too warm. In 
very hot weather it may be necessary to put a lump of ice in 
it to prevent the soft gelatine of which the coating on the 
tissue is composed, from actually dissolving in the solution. 
Such a precaution is very rarely needed. The point where 
there is most often error is in selecting the wrong moment for 


234 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


taking tissue and transfer paper together out of the bath for 
squeegeeing into contact. We had written that “is where there 
is most risk of error,” but really there is none. The tissue curls 
up, and then commences to uncurl, and the first unmistakable 
sign of that uncurling is the indication that the moment has 
arrived. If the tissue neither curls nor uncurls, it is too damp 
altogether to use, and should have been dried more thoroughly. 
If it has become insoluble in warm water, it will not adhere at 
all; but then, as if it did it could not be developed, this is hardly 
a defect, but a virtue, saving transfer paper, tissue, and temper. 
If it has not been properly squeegeed, the finished print may 
show tiny bright specks on its surface, where little air-bells 
have prevented perfect contact between the tissue and its final 
support. Before immersing transfer paper in the water, it will 
be found helpful to scribble in pencil on the back, to show that 
it is the back. Otherwise on coming to use it when wet, it 
may not be possible to tell back from front. 

One word of caution may be added before we leave the 
subject of carbon, and that is with reference to what is called 
the bichromate disease. Bichromate, although it is not 
scheduled by Parliament as a poison, is so regardless of that 
august body as to be fatal to any person who attempts to use 
it as food, even in very small quantities. Still, in this respect 
it is no worse than most of the chemicals used in photography. 
It is, however, particularly injurious if it can find a cut by 
which it may enter the system, and those who are constantly 
using it are liable to skin trouble of a serious kind in conse¬ 
quence of its absorption by the pores. Used in a small way, 
as is the case with amateur carbon workers, it is quite harmless, 
provided there are no cuts on the hands, and provided also 
that a reasonable degree of cleanliness is maintained, the nails 
being brushed with soap and water after the fingers have been 
immersed in bichromate solutions for any time. 

One of the most curious characteristics of the carbon 
process is the property which a printed piece of tissue possesses 
of transferring its image to an unexposed piece of tissue with 
which it has been kept in contact for a little time. This 
property was the basis of two processes entitled “ Mariotype,” 
from M. Marion, who introduced them over thirty years ago ; 
they have long since been obsolete. Although differing very 



SNOW 


BY ROBERT DEMACHY 








































































































































THE CARBON PROCESS 


235 


widely from Mariotype, Mr. Manly’s “Ozotype” seems to take 
advantage of some similar phenomena; but although its 
practice is simple enough, opinions are divided as to the nature 
of the chemical change underlying ozotype. 

In ozotype, well-sized paper is sensitized by the application 
of a solution containing both potassium bichromate and a 
manganous salt, and when dry this paper is printed under a 
negative in the usual way, the result being a visible but faint 
image. As soon as possible after printing the paper is washed 
in several changes, or in running water, until its imprinted 
edges are quite white, when it may be allowed to dry. In this 
condition it may be kept for a long time, many months in fact, 
although it gradually alters. The final stages of making the 
print can therefore be deferred at will. They consist of the 
immersion of a piece of insensitive carbon tissue in a solution 
which contains copper sulphate, hydrokinone, and acetic acid, 
and when the tissue is limp, the immersion of the print also, 
which is placed with its face in contact with the tissue, the two 
being then withdrawn, and squeegeed into contact. After the 
lapse of a certain time, during which the image on the print is 
acting on the pigmented gelatine of the tissue, the two are 
placed in warm water, the backing paper is stripped off, and 
the “carbon” image developed on the surface of the original 
print. 

As the process is a patented one, there is no need to go into 
its manipulations at any length. It is claimed for it that while 
there is all the range of colour and surface and the permanence 
of a carbon print, ozotype has the additional advantages of a 
visible image as a guide in printing, of no second transfer to 
avoid reversal as regards right and left, and of no need of a 
safe edge. On the other hand, the process is distinctly more 
complicated, and there seems to be no doubt that in the great 
majority of cases there is a decided loss of definition, although 
this is not of necessity a drawback. In spite of its ingenuity, 
it has never become a popular process in any sense of the word, 
though its inventor, Mr. Thomas Manly, has striven hard to 
make it so. 

One modification of “ carbon ” which, until the advent of 
“oil” and “ bromoil,” was very popular for exhibition work, is 
gum bichromate, called affectionately by its adherents and 


236 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


derisively by its opponents “bi-gum.” It is supposed by 
some to be incapable of rendering detail, by others to be 
inseparable from a coarse granularity, which has been com¬ 
pared to cocoanut matting ; but these characteristics are by no 
means inherent in it, however they might have been in the 
results of some of those who used it. The pictures of some of 
its most skilful practitioners, such as Mr. Cruwys Richards, M. 
Demachy, and Mr. Mummery, to name but three, revealed none 
of this texture, and in their way were often indistinguishable 
from platinotypes, except by the power of control over the 
result which the producer was able to exercise. Perhaps we 
cannot do better than let Mr. Mummery, who identified him¬ 
self with the process as its most successful British exponent, tell 
of it in his own words :— 

“Of all the printing methods which are at the disposal of 
photographers,” he wrote to the author, “ that known as gum 
bichromate is essentially the process of the amateur; of the 
individual who works for the love of the work. Its capacity 
for responding to the personal feelings of the worker, and its 
flexibility in his hands, are at once the charm and the difficulty 
of the process. The charm is felt as the worker is led to a 
new and extended view of photography and its possibilities as 
a pictorial art; and although the chemical reactions are just 
as uncompromising as in any other process, if a little less 
certain, and all the old methods of printing by combination, 
masking, shading, etc., may be employed, yet there comes a 
point when the gum worker makes a new departure of his 
own. 

“ In most of our processes, when the print is ready for 
development or toning, its fate as a picture is already decided 
—the previous labours have been satisfactorily performed or 
they have failed, the developer merely confirms this ; but in 
the case of gum printing the development becomes the opening 
of fresh opportunities for direct selection and modification. It 
is at this period that the personal factor becomes paramount, 
and the print, now visible and right-handed, maybe considered 
in its artistic aspects, and treatment adopted to suit the require¬ 
ments of each particular case. 

“ It may be thought the labouring of this point in the 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


237 


practice of the process is unnecessary, but in reality the pre¬ 
paration for this after treatment is the key to success, and 
must be borne in mind from the beginning. The mere manu¬ 
facture of a print in gum without taking advantage of its special 
characteristics, in most cases will only yield a result which can 
be better and more easily obtained by other processes, and will 
cause disappointment to the producer. The personal control 
to be exercised is purely a matter of taste, and cannot be 
described by formula, but must be left to be dealt with as 
the cases arise ; and the necessities and aims of each w'orker, 
if seriously followed, may be trusted to develop a suitable 
technique. All the formulae and methods described are open 
to wide modifications, and should be considered as standards 
from which departures may be made. 

“ Bichromate salts in the presence of a colloid substance 
(gum, gelatine, etc.) are sensitive to light. Not only is a 
visible image formed, but the parts more or less affected by 
light are rendered more or less insoluble in water; and beyond 
this, again, the film will absorb water, and swell in an inverse 
proportion to its exposure. This swelling and the formation 
of a raised and sunk image is an excellent guide to the con¬ 
dition at the time of development. In the early days of photo¬ 
graphy much effort was directed to the working out of a 
satisfactory printing process on these lines, and Mr. Pouncy, of 
Dorchester, discovered that by the use of gum as the colloid, 
mixing it with pigment, he could obtain a satisfactory image 
on paper. He published the particulars in 1858, under the 
name of ‘ Pouncy’s Carbon Process.’ His method, however, 
was obscured by the further perfection of what is now known 
as the carbon process, and it was not until 1894 that it was 
seriously revived and further developed by the application of 
after work ; and, later, by the use of multiple printing. 

“ The practice may be divided broadly into two methods, 
commonly known as ‘multiple printing,’ where the picture is 
built up by two or more coatings and exposures ; and ‘single 
printing,’ where the full effect is attained by one coating. Each 
has its own special qualities. The single printing yields fresh¬ 
ness, brilliancy, and spontaneity ; multiple coating, the oppor¬ 
tunity for correction of the values—greater finish, the use of 
various colours, and ease of manipulation in large sizes. The 


238 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


procedure in both methods is very similar, but to prevent con¬ 
fusion, it may be convenient first to describe multiple printing, 
and afterwards to point out the difference in the single method. 
The materials and apparatus are few and simple, and the 
description will be limited to those not usually found in the 
photographer’s outfit. 

“ A very wide choice is open in the selection of a paper. 
Almost any surface, weight, colour, and quality are available, so 
long as the sample is well sized ; but if an absorbent paper is 
employed it may be necessary to give it one or two coats of 
size, in order that the pigment may be retained upon the surface 
without sinking into the texture and degrading the high lights. 
With a hard sized paper this is not likely to occur unless the 
solution of gum is very weak or in bad condition. Either of 
the following preparations may be brushed over the surface to 
size it if required :— 

3% t0 5% °* gelatine in water, with five drops of formaline to the ounce, or 
£ oz. of Bermuda arrowroot to 16 ozs. of water mixed cold, boiled until it 
thickens, and allowed to cool before use. 

“ Such papers as Whatman’s, the old water-colour paper, 
and the Arts Company’s hand-made and machine-made draw- 
ing papers, Joynson, Michallet, and many cartridge and letter 
papers are not likely to require any additional sizing. Another 
point to be kept in view is the capacity of the paper for 
returning to its original dimensions after prolonged wetting, 
as failure to do this will affect the registration in after coatings. 

“ For the gum solution ordinary gum arabic in tears and 
free from adulterants is quite as good as the selected colourless 
gums. The solution may be prepared by placing, say, 2 ozs. 
of gum in the centre of a piece of clean linen, with the margins 
tied up in the form of a bag. The whole is suspended in 6 ozs. 
of cold water, contained in a wide-mouthed bottle. The gum 
will dissolve out in about two days, when the bag containing 
the refuse may be thrown away, and the gum is ready for use. 
The solution should be kept well corked : it will gradually 
become acid ; but this is no defect so long as it does not pro¬ 
ceed so far as to render the solution thin and watery. The 
proportions given yield a 33 per cent, solution, which is about 
the weakest gum it is desirable to employ. It will be found 



ROAD IN THE FENS (ON/C COATING) 

BY ]. C. S. MUMMERY 












THE CARBON PROCESS 


£39 


easier to lay evenly than a more viscid solution, but will 
require at least two coatings to get transparency in the shadows. 
The strength may be increased to anything up to 50 per cent., 
and richer darks will result ; but the beginner, at least, may 
find a difficulty in laying the coating as thin as it is desirable. 

“ The bichromate solution may be simply a saturated solution 
of potassium bichromate. The amount of the salt in the coat¬ 
ing affects the rapidity of printing very materially ; the solution 
should, therefore, be kept in a warm place and fully saturated. 
Ammonium bichromate may be used if preferred. It is more 
soluble and quicker in printing, but harder and more refractory 
in development; it is, however, useful if a fractional method of 
development is adopted. 

‘‘The pigments employed may be obtained from an artist’s 
colourman, in the form of powder colours or moist colours in 
tubes or pans. The former can be bought by the ounce, and 
will require a short grinding with the gum to obtain an intimate 
mixture; they are thus more troublesome to mix, but are more 
easily measured, than moist colours. Such colours as lamp 
and ivory black, light red, burnt sienna, the browns, and many 
others are suitable ; but the browns will work more readily if 
compounded of black and red or burnt sienna. For moist 
colours Schoenfield’s Tempera colours and 
the Syntonos colours are less costly than 
ordinary colours, and will work excellently. 

“An ordinary camel or bear hair mop 
is required for laying on the coating, one 
in which the quill holder is about f inch 
in diameter will be found a suitable size; 
and a 4-inch hoghair grainer’s softener will H0 ? 
serve for smoothing the coating and re¬ 
moving inequalities, also some small camel 
hair and sable brushes for working upon 
the r ace of the print. Other accessories 
are: a small drawing board upon which 
to coat the paper, drawing pins, a piece of 
ground glass as a grinding slab, and a 
small glass muller, dishes, graduates, saucers, a palette knife 
or thin cheese knife, an actinometer for printing, and some 
muslin for filtering. 



M otel [II 

HAIR \\ I 
WOP. \i n 




rIG. 19. 



















240 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


“To prepare the mixture for coating, we may take, say, 
54 grains of ivory black in powder, I oz. of the 33 per cent, 
gum solution, and I oz. of bichromate solution. This will 
give an extremely thin coating of a warm black. Should 
lamp-black be substituted, 18 grains would give an equivalent 
depth of colour, but in the case of colours of lighter hue 
more pigment would be required. Placing the powder colour 
upon the glass slab, a portion of the gum is poured on to 
it, and with the knife the whole is mixed to a paste, and 
is then ground with the muller for two or three minutes to 
secure an intimate mixture. Having done this we can lift the 
mixture from the slab to a saucer by means of the knife, and, 
adding the remainder of the gum, stir the whole well with the 
mop brush (which should have been soaked to swell the hair). 
The bichromate solution is added, and the mixture is again 
stirred, and is then transferred to a measuring glass. From 
this it may be filtered through one or two thicknesses of muslin 
into a second glass, and poured into a clean saucer. It should 
now be limpid, free from dust, and ready for use. If moist-tube 
colours are used, the grinding and filtering are not necessary. 

“To coat the paper, a sheet of absorbent paper (newspaper 
will answer the purpose) is placed on the drawing board, and 
upon this again the paper to be coated is placed, the whole 
being secured with four pins at the corners. Then, taking the 
mop brush, and stirring the mixture well, wiping out the 
surplus liquid against the edge of the saucer, we can proceed 
to paint over the paper with long horizontal strokes, dipping 
as required, and using as little of the mixture as possible. As 
soon as the horizontal strokes are completed, we can go over 
the surface with a series of vertical strokes, without adding 
any more of the mixture. Then, taking the softener and 
holding it quite vertically, with only the ends of the hairs 
touching the surface, a series of horizontal and, vertical strokes 
must be given until the coating lies quite even. The small 
ridges left by the hairs will disappear as the coating dries. 
The whole operation should be done in from 40 to 50 seconds, 
as the coating rapidly hardens, and must not be dragged. It 
is essential to keep the mixture in the saucer well stirred, and 
to take up as little as possible upon the brush. 

“The coating will harden in about half an hour; it should 


Mil— 



ROAD IN THE FENS (TWO COATINGS) 

BY J. C. S. MUMMERY 











THE CARBON PROCESS 


241 


then be thoroughly dried in a very warm room, or over the 
plate rack of a kitchener when the fire is low, and if placed 
forthwith in a calcium tube will remain unhurt for some weeks, 
although it is always better if used fresh. The surface of the 
coated paper should be slightly glossy, and, if unexposed and 
fresh, should lose the whole of its coating if soaked in water 
for thirty minutes. The brushes must be carefully washed after 
coating, as if allowed to harden they will be spoiled. The 
paper is not sensitive to light till dry. After printing, de¬ 
veloping, and drying, additional coatings may be laid over 
the image in a similar manner, and local coatings may be 
applied to small spaces only if such are required. 

“The negative best suited to the process is one which is 
thin, clean, justly exposed, and without violent contrasts. The 
printing may be performed in an ordinary pressure frame; but 
for multiple printing some contrivance must be devised for 
replacing the negative and print in exact register for further 
printing. This may be achieved by printing upon a drawing 

board, upon which the paper 
is laid face upwards, and 
upon this the negative film 
downwards, an ink line being 
drawn on the paper round 
(negative:-, ->| the edge of the negative with 


£> 




FILLET. 


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CARD tUP. 


PRINT. 


BOARD. 


CARD 5UP. 



qATIVE. 
PRINT, 


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20 . 


a ruling pen. Or a simpler method may be adopted, by screw¬ 
ing wooden fillets to the face of the board along two adjoining 
edges at right angles to each—say, at the top and left- 
hand edges. ^ The paper is then pushed up into contact with 
the top fillet, and slid along until it touches the fillet on the 
left; the negative is then treated in a similar manner, and a 
piece of plate glass laid over the whole will keep all in position. 
By this arrangement the paper and negative may be removed 

and replaced in exact register as often as required ; and if two 
It 

























242 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


strips of card, cut with parallel sides, are introduced between 
the edges of the negative and the fillets, as shown in 
Fig. 20, the print will be brought away from the edge of 
the paper, which is desirable, as the edges are usually some¬ 
what imperfectly coated. 

“The exposure for paper prepared as described will be 
considerably less than for P.O.P.; and, as a rough guide, a 
piece of P.O.P. may be exposed under the negative until it 
looks correct in the frame. The exposure given to this, 
measured by tints upon the actinometer, will give an approxi¬ 
mate exposure for a spray development. 

“A thick coating, or a coating with more pigment in its 
composition, will require longer exposure. The visible image 
being too feeble and indistinct to act as a guide to exposure, 
the actinometer must be relied upon, and the utmost care 
taken to avoid over-exposure, which gives a dull and lifeless 
image. Printing must not in any case be done in direct sun¬ 
light, and when exposure is completed the paper must be kept 
perfectly dry until development. 

“ There are a variety of methods available for development, 
each yielding its own particular effect. The simplest is perhaps 
an automatic development, followed by after work, which may 
be practised as follows :— 

“The print is placed face upwards in a dish of cold water 
until it is seen that no air-bells adhere ; it is then turned gently 
over, face downwards, when, if the paper is in good condition, 
and the exposure has been well timed, the superfluous gum 
and pigment will gradually fall away, leaving the picture 
visible. It may now be taken from the water and placed face 
upwards upon a sheet of glass ; and the pigment further washed 
away from large areas by pouring water very gently upon the 
glass margin, directing its flow over the portions of the print 
it is desired to lighten. By the use of a small sponge charged 
with water, and held in the hand just above the surface, drop 
by drop may be squeezed out over isolated portions and de¬ 
velopment so continued, keeping a cushion of water upon the 
surface of the print to soften the effect of the drops. When 
the most obvious local modifications have been made by these 
means, the print maybe returned to the water until the general 
development has proceeded far enough. 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


243 


“If the paper is not fresh, or is over-exposed, the print may 
refuse to develop as far as required; in this case resort may be 
had to water at a higher temperature, or even in refractory 
cases to the addition to each pint of hot water of a small piece 
of caustic soda of the size of a pea, but this should not be 
necessary. When the print has washed away to its proper 
strength it may be taken from the water, laid upon a sheet of 
glass, and stood up vertically to dry. This it will do without 
much loss of brilliancy if the exposure has been correct, and as 
the gum tends to get dry and firm, high lights, which show the 
white of the paper, may be picked out with a sable brush, and 
the drying completed in the dark. When dry, the print may 
be moistened in water and worked upon to any extent with 
brushes and stumps, modifying not only small details, but 
broad areas if required. This method requires much delicacy, 
and perhaps is better suited to single than multiple printing; 
the gauge of correct exposure is, that the print dries without 
running and without losing brilliancy. 

“A simpler and less perfect method of development is by a 
fine rose connected by a rubber tube to a water tap, the spray 
being directed over the face of the print. Here a longer 
exposure will be necessary, 
and the print should only 
be just wetted before com¬ 
mencing to spray. 

“ A method of giving 
either a delicate or drastic 
development at will is by 
the use of an ordinary spray 
diffuser, as used for fixing 
drawings. It is inserted in 
a cork and used with a bottle 
of cold water, the print being 
arranged on a sheet of glass 
in a vertical position. The 
spray, consisting of fine 
particles of water, is blown 
upon the face of the print, 

and varies in strength with the power employed and the distance 
of the nozzle from the surface. In small sizes the spray may dq 



TUBE TO BELLOW V 


SPRAV 

DIFFUSER 

IN 

E>OTTLE. 


Fig. a*. 






















244 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


operated by the mouth, but more convenience is obtained by 
the use of ‘Fletcher’s Bellows’ (No. 3 being a suitable size); 
this is connected to the spray by a £-inch rubber tube, and 
worked by the foot. The exposure here must be nicely 
adjusted to the spray, and will be slightly longer than for the 
automatic method described; the print should not soak for 
more than one quarter to a half minute before being subjected 
to the spray. If under-exposed the pigment will be washed 
away, and if over-exposed further soaking must be resorted to ; 
in either case the result is defective. 

“Development by the direct application of brushes or 
cotton wool whilst the print is in the water is possible, but is 
open to the objection that the exposure required for such rough 
handling is necessarily long, and the quality of the print suffers 
thereby. 

“ The print should always be stood up to dry vertically upon 
a sheet of glass, and not laid flat; and the perfection of richness 
is obtained when the print is in such a condition that it will 
only just dry without further running. This condition is purely 
a matter of correct exposure. 

“After any of these methods of development the print may 
be dried in the dark and afterwards wetted and again worked 
upon, and specks of dust may be lifted from the print during 
development by means of a fine-pointed sable brush. 

“When the first coating and printing has been completed 
the print may again be coated, and the whole process gone 
through as before for the purpose of strengthening the picture 
generally or in parts, obtaining greater or less contrast, or 
giving transparency, etc. The illustrations show the appear¬ 
ance of a picture as developed by the spray diffuser after the 
first and second printings respectively, and although they 
hardly show the extent to which modification has^ been 
effected, they at least indicate how the image is built up, 
and how the effects of solidity and distance may be obtained. 

“ The yellow bichromate stain, if present, may be removed 
at any time by soaking the print in a 5 per cent, solution of 
potash alum or sodium bisulphite, and afterwards rinsing it; but 
this treatment is best left until the final printing is completed, 
as it will cause a slight contraction of the paper. 

“ It will be seen that in multiple printing there is 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


245 


opportunity for many modifications. For instance, with a dense 
negative a thin coating may be first applied and exposed very 
fully to obtain the image from the densest parts of the negative, 
and afterwards a thicker and darker coating with shorter ex¬ 
posure may be given for rendering the thinner portions. Or 
it may be desirable to give a coating with little or no pigment, 
to give a richness to the print; or, again, the field is open for 
printing in two or more colours and for many other variations 
which will suggest themselves to the worker. 

“The description I have just given will apply also to single 
coating, but as the final strength is to be obtained in one 
operation the following modifications are desirable: The 
solution of gum should be 45 to 50 per cent., preferably 
the latter, and with this 60 to 66 grains of ivory black, or 
20 to 23 grains of lamp-black to the ounce of gum solution 
should be added. The additional thickness of the gum will 
render the coating somewhat difficult, and care must be taken 
to lay it as thinly and quickly as possible. The exposure with 
the thicker coating may be somewhat longer. 

u In development, although it is possible to use the spray, 
the automatic method followed by after work is par excellence 
that for single coating. To obtain the richest and most perfect 
single prints the paper must be quite fresh, say not more than 
two or three days old. The negative must hold the correct 
range of tones for the paper, and the exposure must be quite 
correct.’* 

OIL PRINTING AND BROMOIL 

When this book was written the gum-bichromate process, 
as Mr. Mummery has just described it, was the most prominent 
method of the exhibiting photographer. Not that it was 
ever used by a majority; “bi-gums,” even when at their 
highest, were only in a comparatively small minority at the 
leading shows; but the process was that which was used by 
the most progressive workers, and for the most discussed 
exhibits. The fourteen years that have elapsed have seen it 
entirely supplanted ; until now the gum-bichromate prints at 
an exhibition are the most obscure and insignificant. The 
rival which has dethroned it is known as the “ oil ” process* 


246 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


with an allied method known as “ bromoil,” which is a hybrid 
between the ozotype already referred to and the oil methods. 

Oil printing is based upon one of the earliest photo¬ 
graphic methods, one of the many applications of bichromated 
gelatine. Amongst the other alterations which the action of 
light brings about in a film of this nature is this—that if the 
film after exposure is soaked in water for a sufficient length 
of time and then blotted off, those parts where the light has 
acted will retain a greasy ink, such as printing ink, if a roller 
or brush coated with it is passed across the film, while the 
parts wdiich have not been exposed to light do not retain it. 
The principle is the basis of the collotype process, as we shall 
see later on. The great value of the oil process in the hands 
of the skilful manipulator is that it allows him to apply more 
of the ink in the parts which he wishes to tone down and 
less in those parts he would keep light. It is thus the reverse 
of gum bichromate ; in the latter, starting with a sheet of 
paper evenly coated with pigment, this is removed whence 
it is not wanted to form the picture, while in “ oil,” starting 
with a clean sheet of paper, pigment is only placed where 
it is wanted. In the latter, also, we have this peculiarity— 
that if the pigment is applied anywhere in error, it is easily 
removed and the work done over again. 

For printing in oil, paper coated with a layer of soluble 
gelatine is required. Special papers are made for the purpose, 
but some of the most successful workers have used the “ final 
support ” made for double transfer carbon. Autotype oil 
printing paper is very popular for this purpose. The paper 
is sensitized either by immersion in a solution of bichromate 
or by brushing a solution over the surface. A very con¬ 
venient method is to use a mixture of equal parts of methylated 
spirit and of a io per cent, solution of ammonium bichromate. 
This is applied with a “Blanchard Brush,” which is simply 
a strip of glass with a piece of flannel or of swansdown folded 
smoothly over the end of it and held in place with a rubber 
band. A very little of the solution is taken up with the 
brush, and this is drawn across the face of the paper, first 
in one direction and then at right angles to it, until an even 
yellow tint is given to it and the brush seems to drag slightly. 
The paper is then dried in the dark, which, if the sensitizer 


THE CAJRBON PROCESS 


247 


contained spirit, will only take a few minutes. It can be 
kept in a sensitive condition for a few days; but the sooner 
it is printed the better. 

Such paper is printed by daylight, a visible image being 
obtained, which is useful as a guide to the depth of printing, 
the correct depth of printing being very important. The paper 
is very sensitive to light, much more so than P.O.P., and should 
therefore only be exposed very cautiously when it is being 
examined in the printing frame. When printing is complete 
every tone that is to appear in the finished print should be 
visible; but over-printing makes it impossible to get good 
bright high-lights. The negative that will give a good print 
on P.O.P. is that which is most suitable for oil-printing ; and 
owing to the degree of control which can be exercised when 
applying the pigment, there are wide limits within which 
negatives may vary. As soon after printing as possible the 
paper must be placed in clean cold water, which should be 
changed two or three times to get rid of the bichromate, and 
it is then left to soak for from half an hour upwards. It 
is best to continue the soaking until the image is almost in¬ 
visible again, or at least until all trace of yellowness has gone 
out of the whites. When this stage is reached, the print may 
either be inked up forthwith or it may be dried and put on 
one side until the inking-up can be put in hand. It will 
keep quite indefinitely, and is no longer sensitive to light. 

An oil print to be inked up must be fully charged with 
moisture. For this reason it must be soaked for some time, 
an hour is none too long if it has been dried after printing. 
It must be kept moist while it is being inked, so that it is 
laid on a wet pad of a few sheets of blotting paper, on top 
of which a piece of muslin may be placed. As it is difficult 
to carry the pigmenting right up to the edge of the paper, 
it is convenient to mask the negative, or at least to make 
the print on paper a little larger than the finished picture 
is to be. It is laid face upwards on the pad provided for 
it, and the surplus water is wiped from the face with a pad 
of soft muslin. The image at this stage will not merely be 
faintly visible in a drab-grey colour, but will probably also 
show some signs of relief, at least along lines bounding strong 
contrasts. 


248 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


The inking-up may either be done with the inks made 
for lithographic work, which were used by the pioneers of 
the process, or the special pigments which are now made for 
the purpose can be used. The latter are to be preferred, as 
they are of suitable consistency for use as they are, without 
the addition of any medium, and the correct condition in 
this respect is of great importance. They are applied to the 
print by means of brushes, and these, which for the best 
work must be of a particular kind, constitute the most expen¬ 
sive item of the equipment, a large one, which is necessary 
for the general work, costing from 5s. upwards. These bushes 
are known are “ pied de biche,” and have the ends of the 
fine hair of which they are composed finished off in a si ightly 
convex form, which in the most suitable pattern is inclined 
slightly to one side : one or two smaller brushes with flat ends 
rather than of the skew shape are also needed. The other 
materials include an old negative to act as a palette, and 
a palette knife. 

The pigmenting or inking-up of an oil print is a very in¬ 
teresting process. A little of the ink being spread out in 
a very thin layer on the glass, the tip of the brush is touched 
on it very gently two or three times, and is then dabbed very 
lightly on a clean part of the glass. The touch can hardly 
be too delicate, the hairs being only slightly bent with the 
pressure, and a fine deposit of the pigment with an imper¬ 
ceptible grain should be all that is left on the glass to show 
where the brush touched it. In this condition, holding the 
brush vertically and by the tip of the handle, it is lightly 
dabbed on the print, in the way just described. If the ex¬ 
posure has been correct the result of a very few such touches 
will be seen in the image on the paper becoming gradually 
more and more distinct. The whole surface is gone over like 
this, taking fresh pigment from the glass from time to time, 
and evening it up on the brush by dabbing it on the glass 
before applying it to the print. Dabbing is almost too strong 
a term for the very light touch that is required. With each 
application of the brush more and more of the pigment will 
be taken up by the paper, and then, by continued working 
over the surface, this pigment is distributed more and more 
in proportion to the light action. So that a surface which 



MONTMARTRE 











THE CARBON PROCESS 


249 


when first gone over with the brush seems to take the pigment 
more or less all over, as the dabbing progresses will be found 
gradually to lighten in the parts where the light action was 
least, and to darken where it was greatest. An alternative 
method of work with the brush is known as “ hopping.” In 
this the brush is allowed to fall vertically on the paper and 
as the elasticity of its hairs cause it to rebound is caught on 
the rebound and dropped again. A wire holder with a handle 
can be purchased which allows this hopping to be done without 
so much fatigue and very quickly. 

The action of the brush is a peculiar one, and is paralleled 
by the action of a roller in collotype. If the brush is very 
quickly and lightly touched on the print, or, in the latter process, 
if the roller travels very quickly over the surface, it removes the 
ink already there; if the action is slow and heavy it deposits 
the ink everywhere, both where it is wanted and where it is not. 
The happy mean is that which must be aimed at, if the oil print 
is to be a faithful transcript of the negative. Although it is 
possible by such modifications of touch to cover the print with 
ink and then to remove the whole of it, all expert opinion on the 
oil process is in favour of only applying the ink where it is 
wanted, getting first a faint image over the whole print and 
then building up on that. The pigmenting usually takes from 
five minutes to half an hour, according to the size of the print 
and the degree of work to be done on it. If during that time 
there are signs of the paper taking the ink where it should 
not, it may indicate that the paper is getting too dry and it 
must be resoaked. This should not be necessary when the 
time of inking-up has not exceeded half an hour. The contrasts 
of the print should be left a little stronger than seems best at 
the time, as it dulls down on drying. 

After the oil print has been pigmented it is finished. All 
that remains to be done is to pin it up out of the dust to get 
dry and to allow the ink to harden. It is best to leave it 
a few days, or the pigment may be rubbed ; but after the lapse 
of that time a gentle rubbing of the surface will remove any 
hairs or other foreign matter, any spots may be carefully touched 
out and the picture is ready for mounting. A cut-out mount is 
best, if it is not to be framed, as this protects the surface from 
rubbing. 


250 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Prints made by this process can be inked up in any colour 
which can be ground up with oil ; but engraving black is the 
best to use at first, as with strong colours there is a difficulty at 
times of getting sufficient depth. The black will look an olive 
black when on the paper, if much of the original image was 
visible when the pigmenting was put in hand. Mr. Wastell 
points out that this can be got rid of almost completely by 
placing the prints, after they have been washing for an hour, 
in a 5 per cent, bath of sulphuric acid for a minute or so, and 
then giving another half-hour’s washing. As the acid tends to 
soften the gelatine, prints which are treated with it should not 
be inked up forthwith, but should be allowed to dry and then 
resoaked. The brushes used should be cleaned as soon as work 
is over by rinsing them in petrol. A print which is not satis¬ 
factory can have all the pigment washed off with a little petrol, 
and may then be soaked in water and pigmented afresh. Mere 
soaking in water and gentle rubbing will remove a good deal 
of the pigment; but the petrol method is to be preferred. 

Many of the oil prints which are shown at exhibitions are 
coarse and granular in character, and leave very much to be 
desired in the way they reproduce the tones and the details 
of the negative; the process has suffered in repute, because 
many have come to the conclusion that these defects were 
characteristic of the method. It is not the case, however; and 
it is perfectly possible to produce oil prints which, as far as both 
delicacy and gradation are concerned, will hold their own with 
those by any other process. The elements of success seem to 
lie in correct exposure and in patient, delicate, and continued 
work in the inking-up, keeping the quantity of pigment on the 
print at a minimum all the time, and when as much is on as 
seems to be needed, and it is surprising what a very little is 
needed, going over and over the print with the brush until 
the required result is obtained. Every time it is gone over, the 
distribution of the pigment should be less granular and more 
in accordance with the light and shade of the original subject. 

Bromoil, as already indicated, is a combination of ozobrome 
and of the oil process. It has the great advantage over “oil,” 
that it does not require a negative of the size of the print ; but 
may have for its basis a bromide enlargement. In referring to 
bromide enlargements we are anticipating matters, as they are 


THE CARBON PROCESS 


251 


considered in the next chapters ; but this seems to be the 
natural place for dealing odth bromoil. In bromoil, the first 
proceeding is to make a good bromide print or enlargement, for 
which purpose one of the ordinary bromide papers may be used, 
or if preferred a paper made specially for the purpose. Although 
the fixing of the print can be dispensed with at this stage, it is 
better to fix it, using a plain rather than an acid hypo bath, and 
washing thoroughly before drying. The dry bromide print is 
placed direct into a solution which contains potassium bichromate, 
bromide, ferricyanide, alum, and citric acid. This may be made 
up very conveniently by using the “ pigmenting solution” pre¬ 
pared for the ozobrome process. Special solutions for the 
purpose are also obtainable from the dealers. In a suitable 
solution of this kind the image on the bromide print soon 
bleaches until nothing but a greyish-brown impression of a very 
feeble kind remains, and the paper, after a brief washing, is placed 
in dilute sulphuric acid (5 per cent.) for a few minutes, five or 
six are usually required. Further washing may be given, then 
fixing in the hypo solution containing two ounces of hypo and 
a quarter of an ounce of sodium sulphite to the pint, then more 
washing for four or five minutes, and the paper is ready to be 
inked up. 

It will be found, if all has been carried out properly, that the 
paper will take the ink very much as it takes it in the “ oil ” 
process just described. Although before inking-up, the image, 
as far as colour is concerned, will have been bleached right away, 
the picture can still be seen on the paper, as it stands out in relief 
to a more marked extent than is the case in oil-printing. There 
are minor differences in the method of inking-up in order to get 
the desired effect; but in principle, and to a very great extent 
in detail also, the pigmenting of a bromoil print is the same as 
of an oil print. 

As photographers became familiar with the oil and bromoil 
processes attempts were made to ink up different parts of the 
print with different colours, so as to obtain some approach 
to the colours of nature. In the future it is possible that much 
may be done in this direction, although it is getting further and 
further away from anything that may claim to be photography. 
Mr. Frank H. Read has been one of the most successful 
exponents of the process up to the present, and a reproduction 


252 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


by the three-colour process from one of his oil prints in colours 
forms the frontispiece of this volume. 

One other development of these processes remains to be 
noticed. As soon as the inking-up is complete, and while the 
paper is still wet, a sheet of some other suitable paper, such as 
a hand-made drawing paper, may be laid down upon it, and the 
two, suitably backed up, passed through the rollers of a press. 
The ordinary household wringing machine is said to be suitable 
if it is well screwed down. On stripping off the paper after 
pressing it in this way, the ink will be found to be transferred 
from the gelatinized paper on which the picture was inked up to 
the plain paper. One worker has demonstrated the fact that 
the transfer can be effected by rubbing the paper with the fingers 
without any rolling at all. The pictures that can be obtained 
in this way are very attractive, as it gets rid entirely of the 
glazed or coated appearance which is inseparable from the 
gelatinized paper that must form the original basis of an oil 
or bromoil print. 


CHAPTER XVII 


BROMIDE PAPERS 

Machine-printed bromides—Qualities of paper—Exposing—Gauging exposures— 
Development — Lighting the dark room—Developer formulae — Washing— 
Gaslight papers—Toning — Hypo-alum—The Blake-Smith process—Intensi¬ 
fying bromide prints—Ferguson’s copper toning—Uranium toning—Blue tones— 
Ozobrome. 

T HE printing methods that have been considered so far 
have all been such that daylight was necessary, or at 
least was almost a necessity for printing. There remains one 
and only one which may be carried out by means of ordinary 
forms of artificial light, and this is merely a modification of 
the process used in negative making. 

It is to Swan that we owe the idea of applying the dry- 
plate emulsion to paper on which a positive print could be 
developed ; and in his bromide paper patent, he not only 
contemplated this, but also the use of machinery by which a 
band of such paper could be impressed with a series of prints 
from the same negative, developed, washed, and dried. At the 
time of his patent, long since expired, this was little more than 
a possibility, as the developers then known, although they 
could be used to give very fine prints, did not lend themselves 
to use in a machine, because of the necessity of an acid bath 
which they entailed. Nowadays, with modern developers 
many such machines are in successful operation, and editions 
of thousands of bromide prints have been made in them for 
book illustrations, while the little photographs which are inserted 
in packets of cheap cigarettes are printed in this way, not in 
thousands, but in millions. In these machines the paper is led 
in a long band under the negative, where it is held for an 
instant while exposure is made to an electric light, and then 
passes along through a succession of tanks holding developer, 
a fixing bath, and water, finally emerging in a state requiring 

253 


254 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


nothing beyond drying and cutting up. Such machines are in 
use by Messrs. Wellington and Ward, the Rotary Photographic 
Company, and others, and have considerable commercial im¬ 
portance ; and a simple device on similar lines for making 
a number of prints quickly has been brought out by Messrs. 
Marion and Co. But all of these are more for the manufacturer 
and professional than for the amateur, whose printing apparatus 
need not exceed the plain printing-frame and the usual dishes 
and solutions. 

There are two distinct classes of such paper, which for 
convenience are usually known as “ Bromide ” and “ Gaslight ” 
paper respectively ; but it must not be supposed that either 
term is necessarily descriptive and accurate. It is commonly 
believed that gaslight papers contain not only silver bromide, 
but silver iodide and chloride also. This is by no means a 
hard-and-fast rule; but whatever their composition, the terms 
are convenient and are generally understood. Bromide paper 
can be made as sensitive as the fastest plate, but nothing would 
be gained by such rapidity, and much comfort in working would 
be lost; so that the fastest bromide paper on the market to-day 
is certainly not more rapid than a very slow plate indeed, 
while the slowest gaslight paper is a long way behind even 
that standard of sensitiveness. Gaslight papers, as their name 
implies, are sufficiently insensitive to be worked in gaslight. 
It should never be forgotten, though, that their insensitiveness 
is not absolute, but only a question of degree, and that if they 
can be developed by gaslight, they can also be printed by it, 
and therefore fogged by it. A simple plan to prevent any risk 
of this sort, is to erect a screen—a drawing-board will do— 
between the light and the dishes in which the print is developed, 
filling the frames and developing and fixing the prints in the 
shadow of the board. 

In printing on bromide paper by contact, and still more 
when printing in the same way on an ordinary dry plate, the 
photographer is surprised at the extreme shortness of the 
exposure. He is accustomed to exposures in the camera of a 
second or so to daylight, and knows that with artificial light 
these have to be enormously prolonged ; he may lose sight 
for the moment of the difference between letting the light enter 
his camera by a small hole at the lens, and be spread over an 
area many times the size of that hole, and the same light 


BROMIDE PAPERS 


255 


striking straight through a negative to the plate. Over¬ 
exposure is, therefore, the tendency at first. If an average 
negative is put in a printing frame, a rapid plate put behind it, 
and the frame held up to a gas-burner at a distance of say 

2 feet, it will not be possible to turn that burner up and down 
quick enough to avoid over-exposure, and the frame would 
have to be moved a good deal further away. Bromide paper 
is nothing like so fast as the plate, but at 3 feet from an 
ordinary gas-burner the exposure is only a matter of a few 
seconds. Gaslight paper at the same place might want any¬ 
thing up to an hour or more, and is therefore printed at a 
much shorter distance. 

As on bromide paper there is no image visible until it is 
developed, there is no need for the printing frame to have 
a hinged back, while as the exposure is so short, one frame is 
all that is necessary. With gaslight papers exposures run to 
minutes, and it may be possible and indeed convenient to have 
a number of frames exposing at once. While we cannot see 
the progress of printing, we are able to gauge it with great 
accuracy, because, doing it by a constant artificial light, we 
need only take care that the frame is the same distance from 
the light every time, and is exposed for the same number of 
seconds. The gas-flame is the usual light, and if always 
turned up just short of the point at which it “ roars ” it is 
reasonably constant, although occasionally it may vary enough 
to upset one’s calculations. No attempt should ever be made 
to vary exposure by varying the height to which the gas or 
lamp is turned up, as it is quite impossible to regulate this 
properly, and to repeat any given exposure obtained in this 
way. The light should be burning at its best always, and 
exposure determined by the distance of the frame. 

Those who do much bromide printing by gaslight will find 
it worth while fixing what is termed a Methven screen on the 
gas-flame. This is a piece of metal—thin sheet-iron will do— 

3 or 4 inches each way, in whose centre is cut a square hole, 
with a side, in this case, half an inch long. This is fixed 
half an inch in front of the flame, so that, viewing the light 
from any part of the printing frame, nothing but an even 
yellow flame can be seen through the hole. In this way we 
cut off much of the irregularity in the power of the gaslight 
due to uneven pressure, and exposures are much more uniform. 


256 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


With such a screen it is even comparatively unimportant 
whether the gas is turned fully on or not, provided the jet is 
always big enough for the aperture in the screen to be opposite 
a plain bright flame all over. Gas pressure is most likely to 
be a source of error in foggy weather and on Sunday evenings, 
when, as a rule, it is much lower than at ordinary times. The 
screen may be used with equal advantage on a “ paraffin ” lamp. 

Incandescent gas is much more powerful than is needed for 
bromide work, but is an excellent light for gaslight printing ; 
but then, as all available light is required, it is not advisable to 
reduce its power by the use of the screen. This paper is also 
printed very conveniently by the use of magnesium ribbon, the 
exposure being regulated by measuring the length of ribbon to 
be burnt. A small spirit-lamp is useful for lighting the ribbon, 
which should be held in pliers to prevent burning the fingers. 

The distance from the light at which the printing frame 
should be placed is very important. The exposure increases 
with the square of the distance, so that at 2 feet we have to 
give four times as long as at one foot, at 3 feet nine times, 
at 4 feet sixteen times, and so on. The most convenient 
distance for bromide paper is generally 2 or 3 feet, and an 
appliance may be made to carry the printing frame at that 
fixed distance from the light. The writer uses a hook on the 
edge of a shelf, the frame having an eye screwed to it so that 
it can be hung on the hook, which is 22 inches from the 
gas-jet. If no special arrangement is provided to carry the 
frame, this latter may have a wooden arm of suitable length 
screwed to it and projecting in front. The end of the arm is 
then placed against a prearranged portion of the lamp or gas 
bracket, and the distance of the frame is then always the same. 
Or a piece of string may have one end tied to the bracket, the 
other end being held in the hand which holds the frame. 0 Gas¬ 
light papers are generally printed much nearer to the light, to 
reduce the time of exposure. For quarter-plates or thereabouts, 
6 inches is a convenient distance ; but the larger the negative 
the greater the distance to which it must be removed, if uneven 
exposure is to be prevented. As a guide, we may point out 
that little irregularity from this cause will be noticed if the 
frame is always separated from the light by a distance at least 
as great as the diagonal of the plate. 

The thinner the negative the feebler should be the light in 



BY MRS. DUMAS 

















« 


. 







. 






BROMIDE PAPERS 


257 


which it is printed, which is best accomplished by moving the 
frame further away. Green glass placed over the printing 
frame has much the same effect in increasing contrasts as it 
has in printing-out processes. If the glass of the negative is 
imperfect or marked in any way, it may be that printing at 
some distance from a comparatively small source of light these 
blemishes will appear on the print. A sheet of ground glass 
or tissue paper prevents this by diffusing the light, but upsets 
calculations about exposure. It is better, then, to hold the 
negative, moving it about and turning it round, but always at 
the same distance from the light. 

The character of negative required by bromide and gaslight 
papers varies. Speaking generally, a stronger negative is 
wanted by bromide than by gaslight paper, which latter seems 
to work best with a negative that is too thin for any other 
printing process whatever. But different makes differ in their 
characteristics in this respect, and some of the papers are 
specially made for printing from hard or from soft negatives 
respectively. 

The faster the bromide paper the harder may be the nega¬ 
tive used successfully with it; but this, too, is only a vague 
generalization, and must not be pushed too far. There is no such 
vast difference between the speed of the different so-called 
“ bromide ” papers as there is between plates. The Kodak 
Company make two speeds—one about four times as fast as 
the other, and most well-known makes are approximately the 
speed of one or other of these two brands. The fast papers 
include the Wellington and the Ilford “ Rapid,” while the best- 
known slower ones are Marion’s, the “ Barnet,” Ilford “ Slow,” 
and the Paget paper. The “ gaslight ” papers are, of course, 
far below the slowest of these in speed. 

There is a little appliance made by Marion and Co. which 
is very convenient for bromide printing, and is shown in the 
illustration (Fig. 22). Its purpose can be seen at a glance. 
A negative being inserted in it, with a piece of bromide paper 
behind, the back — it is like a printing frame exactly — is 
fastened in. The wooden shutters being withdrawn, the frame 
is exposed at the proper distance from the light, and the 
shutters pushed in in succession. If a plate is to be tested for 
negative work, the exposures need never differ by less than 
double or one-half that of the next each way. That is to say, 

6 


258 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


if four seconds’ exposure is correct, neither three nor six can be 
noticeably, incorrect; and, in fact, it is hardly possible to 
detect the difference in exposure represented by three and 
four seconds, or by four and six seconds, 
and the difference between three and six 
will only just be noticeable. Photogra¬ 
phers who have never given much thought 
to this subject almost invariably vastly 
overrate the effect of such differences, and 
we have even heard two skilful workers 
discussing whether a certain subject 
should have eight or ten seconds; whereas 
if they had given two similar plates those 
two exposures and developed them to¬ 
gether, it is certain that they could not 
pick out which had the longer exposure 
from the prints, and very doubtful if they could do so from the 
negatives. If they did, it would be by taking into consideration 
appearances that were quite without any printing value. Accord¬ 
ingly, in negative work, we double or halve exposures at the least. 
If two seconds is insufficient, we know that four cannot possibly 
be too much ; and if thirty seconds is more than is needed, 
we may be equally confident that fifteen is not too little. In 
printing on bromide paper this is not the case, and exposure 
must be more accurately timed, as slight deposit, which on a 
negative would be quite invisible viewed by transmitted light, 
is enough on a print to degrade the whites and make it look— 
as, indeed, it would be—overprinted. In using Marion’s “speed¬ 
testing frame,” therefore, with bromide paper, we use shorter 
intervals than half or double. As it is not simple to determine 
the exact geometrical mean between the exposures, it is best 
to let every other exposure be double, and to close the shutter 
for the intervening ones halfway between the two. Thus, if we 
suspected that sixteen seconds was the correct exposure, we 
might shut the six shutters thus— 


No* I 

•. • 



... 6 seconds. 

No. 2 

•. • 



... 8 

» 

No. 3 

•. • 



... 12 

» 

N o* ^ • • • 

.«• 



... 16 

It 

No. 5 




... 24 

tt 

No. 6 ••• 

• • • 



... 32 

tt 



Fig. 23.—Marion’s Print¬ 
testing Frame. 


MAHIOM 
























BROMIDE PAPERS 


250 


On development of the print so exposed, we might find that 
an examination of it was sufficient to show that twelve seconds 
was a little too short and sixteen a little too long, and give 
fourteen accordingly. 

There is no need to use the “speed-testing frame ” for every 
negative by any means ; but it is useful in taking up a new 
make of bromide paper, or in dealing with a negative that is 
much out of the common in point of density, or when bromide 
printing has been put on one side for some time, and is un¬ 
familiar. It is, of course, equally useful with “ gaslight ” 
papers, and, in fact, is a little appliance which will save its cost 
in no time. It is impossible to urge too strongly, if there is 
any doubt at all about exposure, the economy of deliberately 
using a piece of paper for such a series of trials. The wasteful¬ 
ness of making a print which, if wrong, only gives a very vague 
clue as to the correct exposure, and may have to be repeated 
five or six times before getting it right, is only apparent when 
this has actually been done. 

Bromide paper can be developed in a bright yellow light; 
but as there is yellow and yellow, and as some of the yellow 
glass on the market lets pass a great deal of light to which 
rapid bromide paper is sensitive, a trial should be made before 
placing implicit reliance upon the dark-room window. It is 
sufficient if a piece of bromide paper is placed in a dish where 
development is usually carried out, and half of it shaded by a 
card, which ought not to be quite in contact with it, as the card 
itself may affect the paper if it is not quite pure. After leaving 
the paper exposed like this to the yellow light for two minutes, 
it should be developed, keeping the dish covered all the time, 
and should show no difference between the exposed and un¬ 
exposed portions. A light that is safe for plates is a fortiori 
absolutely safe for bromide papers, and may be used by those 
who do not mind its obscurity. But the comfort of working in 
a profusion of safe yellow light has only to be experienced to 
be adopted. 

The development of these papers calls for little comment 
It is usual to soak the bromide paper in water first, as this 
makes it possible to develop with a smaller quantity of solution, 
and as the developers used for bromide paper generally act 
very quickly, it reduces the chances of uneven development; 
but it is not otherwise a necessity. Gaslight papers give the 


260 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


best print when the development is very rapid, and it is there¬ 
fore customary to place them in the developer while still dry. 
The developer employed for these papers is, for the same 
reason, much stronger than that which can be used successfully 
with bromide papers. With both papers the development must 
be complete and definite if the print is to be a good one; any 
attempt to curtail development to keep the print light, or to push 
it on to remedy under-printing, or to restrain it with bromide 
to counteract excessive exposure, results in loss of quality. 

The developed image in a print has not only to be of the 
right depth or vigour, as it has to be in a negative, but another 
condition is imposed which does not obtain in negative-making— 
the image must be of a pure black colour. This is not the case 
if the developer has been unduly diluted, while the presence of 
more than a trace of bromide causes the picture to be a most 
unpleasant greenish tint. For this reason the same developer 
must not be used over and over again too often, since the result 
of its action on the paper is to produce bromide in the solution. 
At the same time, as it is convenient to use plenty of solution 
in order to be able to cover the paper quickly, and as the coat¬ 
ing of emulsion on bromide paper is much thinner than on a 
plate, the developer is not so quickly exhausted, and may be 
used until there is any sign of the production of a poor colour. 

If the development of a properly exposed print is watched, 
it will be noticed that after the image has reached the proper 
degree of vigour the action of the developer seems almost to 
cease. If the print is then torn in half, and one half fixed, 
while development of the other half is continued for nearly as 
long again, and it is then fixed also, we shall see, on comparing 
the two, that there is very little difference between them., That 
portion which was developed for the longer time will be very 
slightly darker, and possibly discoloured a trifle in the high 
lights, but although developed for twice as long, it will not be 
twice as vigorous. The action, in short, has proceeded to a 
certain point and then virtually ceased, and experience will 
soon teach the bromide printer, if he will not learn it by pre¬ 
cept, that it is only when the paper is correctly exposed and 
development is carried to that stage, that he can expect to get 
the best the process will yield. This is particularly the case 
with prints that are subsequently to be toned. With gaslight 
papers the stoppage of development is less marked, and the 


BROMIDE PAPERS 


261 


discoloration of the whites by prolonged action is more noticeable, 
but it occurs all the same, and complete development is just as 
necessary if a good rich print is to be obtained Much of the dis¬ 
favour with which the bromide process was once regarded was due 
to the production of poor prints from insufficient development. 

Formulae for the development of bromide and gaslight 
papers are legion.- Every packet sold contains particulars of 
the solution which the maker finds best suited to his own 
papers. In the early days of bromide printing ferrous oxalate 
used to be employed for the purpose, but it was necessary to 
wash the prints in dilute acid immediately after development, to 
get rid of the iron salts, and then to wash out the acid before they 
could be fixed ; so the ferrous oxalate developer was soon sup¬ 
planted by others which did not entail so much trouble, although, 
as far as the quality of the print is concerned, it has never had 
a superior. Amidol is that which is now the most popular. 

Both bromide and gaslight papers should be rinsed after 
developing and before fixing.^ Some makers advise the con¬ 
trary, in order to safeguard their papers from suspicion owing 
to the washing being carried on too long ; but it is well neither 
to omit it altogether and so to carry developer into the fixing- 
bath, nor to take very long about it, especially in the case of 
gaslight papers, and so involve a risk of discoloration of the 
whites. A mere rinse of three or four seconds’ duration will 
remove a good deal of developer. 

The hypo bath may be a plain one of two ounces to the 
pint, but an acid fixing bath is very much to be preferred, as 
it is all-important to keep the prints a good colour, and the 
acid bath helps to ensure this. Methods of preparing it have 
already been described (page 134); the simplest and most 
satisfactory is to add two drams of potassium metabisulphite to 
each pound of hypo. The prints are plunged beneath the 
surface of the fixing solution, and should be left there for 
a quarter of an hour Almost immediately they are immersed, 
a kind of clearing or brightening of the picture will take place, 
but this is no indication that it is fixed, and there is nothing to 
tell when fixing is complete. The only plan is to take care 
that the fixing bath is a new one, is of the proper strength, and 
is allowed to act for a sufficient time. It is very important 
that the prints should be kept well below the surface of the 
bath while fixing, and also well under water until most of the 


262 THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 

hypo has been washed out. If this point is neglected, the action 
of air and of the hypo together will lead to an irregular 
reduction of the image and to stains, which are quite without 
a remedy and spoil the print entirely. As the prints have a 
tendency to float up, some means should be taken to prevent 
this. A very simple plan is to immerse them face downwards 
both in the hypo and in the washing water, and to place a 
xylonite dish on the top of them, in which water is poured until 
it floats so deeply as to keep them well below the surface. 

The washing of prints on bromide or gaslight papers is 
carried out in the same way as that of negatives or of prints 
on P.O.P. It is important to get rid of the hypo, if the print 
is to be permanent; but if this is done there is every probability 
that the result will be much more lasting than in the case of a 
print on P.O.P. The image in a bromide print consists of 
metallic silver enclosed in gelatine, while in a P.CXP. print the 
image is formed of a mixture of compounds of which little 
definite is known, except that they are very readily attacked 
by sulphur, which may get to them from traces of hypo, from 
an impure atmosphere, or from attachment of the print to 
an impure mount. The author has a bromide print which 
was made in 1887, and has been hanging up, framed, without 
any special care ever since, and is to all intents absolutely 
unaltered. 

An ingenious modification of the bromide process was that 
introduced by the Rotary Photographic Company, and known 
as “ Carbograph.” The emulsion contained pigment as well as 
silver bromide, in fact it was a kind of cross between carbon 
tissue and bromide paper. Enlargements could be made direct 
upon this, with artificial light, just as on ordinary bromide 
papers. After development, which had to be carried out by 
time, as on the dark surface of the Carbograph little of the 
image was visible, the print was placed in a solution which con¬ 
tained potassium bichromate and alum. It was then squeegeed 
on to transfer paper and developed like a carbon print, the silver 
image which was first developed being left in or taken out 
with a suitable reducer at the discretion of the photographer. 
As a means of making carbon enlargements direct, there seemed 
to be great possibilities before this process, but it obtained no 
popularity, probably from the greater simplicity by which 
similar results could be obtained with ozobrome. 


BROMIDE PAPERS 


263 


Gaslight papers possess the peculiarity that by giving them 
prolonged exposures and then developing in suitably restrained 
solutions, the colour of the prints may be modified from black 
through a series of sepias and browns right up to bright red, 
and when they were first introduced much stress was laid upon 
this feature. It is difficult to say precisely why so little is 
heard of it now, but the fact remains that it has almost entirely 
gone out of use. Probably the uncertainty of the tone and the 
necessity for considerable skill in determining when to stop 
development, and in making a number of prints of the same 
colour has had much to do with it. 

If development to obtain warm colours has to a great 
extent gone out of fashion, there has been an enormous increase 
in the popularity of certain toning methods; to such an 
extent, indeed, that at some exhibitions toned bromide prints 
or enlargements have formed 80 per cent, of the total number. 
While there are many ways of changing the colour of a print, 
in many cases it is only a change for the worse, but the brown 
tone obtained by the conversion of the silver image into one 
of silver sulphide is often a great improvement, and it is this 
toning method which enjoys the greatest favour. Moreover, 
if the conversion is a complete one, as it may be under proper 
conditions, there is no reason to suppose that the toned print 
is any less permanent than a black one, which is certainly not 
the case when other toning processes (notably those in which 
uranium is employed) are adopted. The change of the silver 
into silver sulphide may either be direct or indirect. Both 
methods are in everyday use; the former is generally known 
as the hypo-alum process, the latter as the Blake-Smith, from 
the name of the gentleman who first studied it and introduced 
several new methods of carrying it out. 

A most ingenious process by Mr. T. Manly, the inventor of 
Ozotype, combines the advantages of bromide and carbon 
printing, and is known as “ Ozobrome.” A bromide print or 
enlargement is soaked for a few minutes in clean cold water, 
and a sheet of carbon tissue is meanwhile soaked in a patented 
solution called the pigmenting solution, and supplied by the 
Autotype Company. The solution contains, in addition to certain 
hardening agents, potassium bichromate, potassium bromide, 
and potassium ferricyanide. The tissue, having absorbed what it 
will of this solution, is squeegeed down upon the bromide print 


264 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


and left in contact with it for half an hour, more or less. Under 
these circumstances a curious change takes place. The potas¬ 
sium bromide and ferricyanide attack the image of the bromide 
print and cause it almost to disappear, just as a mixture of those 
salts in solution does when applied to the bromide print in the 
process of sulphur toning. The bye-product of this reaction 
acts in turn on the bichromate, this in turn rendering the tissue 
insoluble just where it is in contact with most silver on the 
bromide print. So that in its effect on the carbon tissue, contact 
with a bromide print, under these conditions, is equivalent to 
printing under a negative. 

The print on carbon tissue so obtained is developed with 
warm water in the usual way. It may be left on the bromide 
print and the two placed together in the warm water, the paper 
backing of the tissue pulled off and the picture developed on the 
bromide print itself. A better plan is to separate tissue and 
bromide print under the surface of cold water, to squeegee the 
tissue on to a piece of transfer paper and then to develop it, and 
to wash the bromide print thoroughly in water. It may then 
have its image brought back to full strength by the application 
of any ordinary developer for bromide work, and is ready for a 
repetition of the operation. The only limit to the number of 
carbon prints that can in this way be obtained from a single 
bromide—or gaslight print, for that does equally well—is the 
capacity of the paper to stand the repeated wetting and pulling 
about. If the Ozobrome is developed on the bromide print, the 
image beneath may be left as it is, or redeveloped to enforce 
the print above it, or turned into silver sulphide, as in the Blake- 
Smith process. Or all traces of it may be removed by means of 
hypo, or, if need be, the ferricyanide and hypo reducer. 

Ozobrome when first announced seemed to present great 
advantages to the exhibiting photographer; but for some 
reason or another it has never enjoyed anything more than a 
very restricted popularity. 


WINDLESS 

UY \Y. ' 



THOMAS 







CHAPTER XVIII 


ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 

Enlarging—Illumination of the negative—Diffusers and condensers—The optical 
arrangements—Daylight—Curing distortion—Exposing on bromide paper—On 
dry plates—Developing—Slide making—By contact—A lantern-slide printing 
frame—Slide cameras—Development—For warm tones—Intensifying slides— 
Clouds—Dodging slides—Mounting and spotting—Masking—The lantern screen 
—Small displays. 

T HE growth in popularity of the hand-camera has caused a 
corresponding increase in favour of methods of getting 
a large print from a small negative. There are two systems by 
which this can be accomplished, each having its good and bad 
features, and each its devotees. One is by enlarging direct 
upon bromide paper—a method which dispenses with all inter¬ 
mediate stages and by bringing the final large print closer in 
its connection with the original negative, is capable of as great 
a degree of accuracy in rendering its tones as in any contact 
printing method. The other is by making an enlarged negative— 
a process which is inevitably accompanied by loss of truth of 
tone, but has the great merit of allowing the final print to be 
made by contact and consequently by platinum, carbon, gum, or 
any other method affected by the photographer. 

All enlarging is re-photographing, and requires a lens and a 
camera. True we may enlarge with a lantern in a darkened 
room, but this is not dispensing with a camera, since the room 
itself becomes the camera in such a case. And we can substitute 
a pinhole for the lens, if we have a reasonable anticipation of 
living to the end of the exposure. The essential fact to grasp 
is, that it is actually a repetition of the original operation. The 
subject is the small negative, the lens the lens of the enlarging 
lantern or camera, the bromide paper corresponds to the plate, 
and the space between the lens and paper is the camera. The 

265 


266 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


first important proceeding is to arrange for the illumination of 
the negative. 

This can be done either by diffused light, or by means of a 
condenser, and the distinction between the two should be clearly 
understood. If we place a negative as at N (Fig. 23), with a lens 
at L, and paper at P, and illuminate that negative by a light, I, 
with the idea of obtaining an enlarged image on P, we shall 



P 


Fig. *3. 


find that the only part of the negative which is properly lit is 
that which lies in a direct line between the lens and the lamp— 
that is to say, the centre. The rays from the lamp, as shown in 
Figure 23, proceed in straight lines in all directions, only a few 
reaching the lens and thence the paper P. But by placing a 
lens, C. between the negative and the light, as shown in Fig. 24, 
the rays may so far have their direction altered that they now 



all practically meet at L, and the image formed on the paper P 
shows the whole negative evenly illuminated. Such a lens, C, 
is called a condenser, and is used in all optical lanterns for 
projecting slides, the arrangement of which, substituting the 
slide for the negative N, is precisely that shown in Fig. 24. A 
condenser is also used in most enlarging lanterns. It must 
not be supposed that there is any essential optical difference 
between a condenser and any other lens. The so-called 




















ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 267 


condensing is precisely the same action as that of any other lens 
placed in the same position, and is due to the fact that the 
condenser is forming an image at L of the light at I. To make 
this clearer, any one with a condenser can hold a sheet of paper 
at its focus at L, and will see not merely a spot of light, but an 
actual inverted image of the flame and of the brightly lit parts 
of the lamp. Consequently, I and L are conjugate foci, and 
the nearer we push the lamp I to the condenser, the further off 
will be the point L, at which the rays of light are brought by it 
to a focus. 

Another fact may be gathered from the preceding paragraph. 
If the concentrated spot of light at L is an image of the light 
itself at I, the nearer the light is brought to the condenser the 
larger will be its image at I, just as the nearer the lens of the 
camera is to an object the larger is the picture on the screen. 
Also the larger the light itself is the larger will be its image, 
if the distances I C and C L remain the same. Therefore, if the 
light is too near the condenser, or if the source of light is too 
large, it may make a bigger image at L than the lens itself 
that is placed there, and all the light will not get through the lens. 
On the other hand, if the source of light is very small, or its 
distance from C is increased, the image at L may be such a 
spot of light that it only occupies a small piece in the centre of 
the lens. It does not often happen that it occupies the whole 
of the lens at L when we are enlarging with a condenser, and 
this has an important bearing on the subject of exposure. 

A small stop, we know, improves definition, because, to a 
certain extent, only the centre of the lens is then used to form the 
image. If the condenser forms at L such a small image of the 
light that it only occupies the centre of the lens, the margins 
of the lens are not used, and it is possible to insert a smaller 
stop in the lens at L without cutting off any of the light that 
is passed by the lens. Therefore under such circumstances, 
the insertion of a smaller stop does not necessarily increase the 
exposure, as it does in ordinary camera work. It may not 
increase it at all; but if it does, the rule as to the exposure 
doubling with each stop in succession as we pass from one to 
the next size smaller, does not hold good. When enlarging 
with a condenser, therefore, the exposure must be ascertained 
for the particular stop that is Deing used, there being no 


268 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


reliable method of ascertaining the alteration in illumination 
brought about by a change in the size of the stop. 

Further consideration of the diagram (Fig. 24) will explain 
also how it comes about that the smaller the source of light 
the finer the definition in the enlargement, until when we come 
to work with the spot of light of an electric arc lamp we are 
practically using a small stop in the lens, although actually it 
may be fully open. The definition, when enlarging with an 
arc light, is at times so fine as to be troublesome, every speck 
and blemish in the glass of the negative appearing faithfully 
and enlarged on the screen. 

The adjustment of an enlarging lantern is performed in 
three stages. First, the lantern is set up with the negative in 
position and focussed on the screen. The distance of the screen 
decides the degree of enlargement. When this has been done, 
the distance of the light from the condenser has to be adjusted, 
so that the latter brings the image of the light upon the lens L. 
This cannot be done before, because until we have got the 
picture the right size and focussed we do not know the final 
position of L. The negative is therefore taken out of the 
lantern, and the light adjusted, until a perfectly evenly illu¬ 
minated disc is seen on the screen at P. This is an indication 
that the light is in the right position, and the negative may be 
put back. It is best, then, to focus it again, as it was difficult 
to do so before the light was right, and the slight further 
focussing is not likely to disturb the illumination. We are 
then in a position to expose. 

So much for enlarging with a condenser. If we return now 
to Fig. 23, it will be obvious that if the negative were no larger 
than that small portion of it which lay in the direct line between 
the lens L and lamp I, it would be illuminated evenly without 
a condenser; or, what comes to the same thing, the whole nega¬ 
tive N would be evenly illuminated if the source of light were 
sufficiently large. It is not practicable to get a direct source 
of light of such a size, but it is easy to get it indirectly. Instead 
of the condenser C, we may substitute a screen of ground 
glass, G (Fig. 25). This scatters or diffuses the light passing 
through it, so that some light from every part of its surface 
will reach the lens L, although, as it scatters the light indif¬ 
ferently in all directions, only a comparatively small proportion 


ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 269 


of that which falls on the ground glass will reach the lens, and 
not all, as was the case with the condenser. Hence the ex¬ 
posure with such a diffuser will be much longer than with a 
condenser; still, every part of the negative will be lit, and not 
merely that which lies in the line between the lens and the 
light. Instead of the ground glass, a smooth reflector of white 



paper or card may be used, as shown in plan at R (Fig. 26), the 
result being much the same, except that the reflector is even 
less efficient, as far as the strength of the light is concerned, 
than is the diffuser. With these diffusers, as it is no longer a 
case of a condenser forming a brightly lit spot in the centre of 
the lens, the negative behaves exactly as if it were a landscape 



U 

Fig. 26. 


or portrait that was being photographed, and as the lens L is 
stopped down, the exposures are increased in the same way as 
in ordinary photography. With diffusers, therefore, there is no 
need to ascertain the exposure by trial with the stop actually 
used for making the enlargement; we may, if we will, use any 
other stop for the trial, and calculate from it to the exposure 



















270 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


with the stop finally selected. This detailed consideration of 
the conditions which prevail when enlarging has to be done is 
necessitated by the fact that the subject receives very little 
attention as a rule, and even in the treatises put forward pro¬ 
fessing to deal with enlarging, there have been statements 
which were altogether inaccurate in these matters. 

A condenser is only used when enlarging by means of 
artificial light. The apparatus generally employed for such a 
purpose is a lantern, which only differs from the ordinary 
lantern for showing slides, in the arrangements for holding the 
negative, and in the greater care that is given to prevent stray 
light from getting out of the lantern. This ought not to be a 
difference, as it is quite as important to keep the room dark 
when showing slides as it is when enlarging. But when en¬ 
larging is in hand, the paper is fogged if there is too much 
stray light, and the photographer knows that all is not as it 
should be ; whereas in showing slides he does not, as a rule, 
appreciate the value of comparative darkness. Few lantern 
exhibitions are as they should be in this respect. The general 
arrangement of an enlarging 
lantern is shown in Fig. 27 , which 
is one made by Hume of Edin¬ 
burgh, and can be used with 
any illuminant that may be 
selected. In the form illus¬ 
trated, it is employed with in¬ 
candescent gas and a Welsbach 
mantle. Those who have not 
got a supply of gas can employ 
a similar light in which the 
mantle is made incandescent by means of a spirit flame, 
as in the “Sol” and “Meta” lamps. Acetylene may be em¬ 
ployed, or an oil lamp, or an oxyhydrogen jet, while those 
who have a supply of current may use the Nernst electric lamp 
or the arc light. The author prefers a mantle made incan¬ 
descent with gas or spirit, as it is easy to put up and use, the 
light does not alter when the lamp is run for some time, and 
the exposures are neither unmanageably short nor incon¬ 
veniently long. By placing the enlarging lantern on a table 
and putting an easel for the bromide paper on the same table, 




































ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 271 


there is not so much risk of movement as when the two stand 
on separate supports. 

The cost of a condenser for larger plates than 5 by 4 is 
out of proportion to the advantages conferred by its use, while 
its weight makes it unwieldy, and its thickness very liable to 
breakage. For larger sizes, therefore, it is usual to employ a 
diffuser. When the light is artificial, one thickness of ground 
glass is not sufficient, while a white reflecting surface, although 

giving a beautifully even 
illumination, entails so great 
a loss of light that it is not 
practicable, except with 
daylight. There is an ex¬ 
ception to this—the form 
shown in plan in Fig. 28. 
Two incandescent gas 
burners are placed at A A, 
and the curved metal reflector, which is whitened inside, illumines 
the negative evenly and well. This arrangement is commercially 
obtainable, enclosed in a light-tight lantern, for use in a darkened 
room. With ground glass, it is usual to employ two pieces, and, 









FrG. 99. 


in order to allow them to diffuse the light properly, to separate 
them from each other and from the negative by a space of at 
least an inch. It is important also that they shall be larger 
than the negative they are to illuminate, or its edges will not 
be properly lit. Fig. 29 shows in plan a simple method of 










































272 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


enlarging with a camera the size of the enlargement, which 
dispenses with the need for a dark room. It is not so often 
used for enlarging, but it is a very commori arrangement for 
reducing and making lantern slides, an operation which differs 
in no way from enlarging, except in the relative sizes of 
original and copy. L is an ordinary oil lamp or incandescent 
gas burner ; G G are pieces of ground glass ; N the negative, 
placed over an aperture in a piece of card or wood, M, in order 
to prevent light getting round its edges. There is no need, 
with such an arrangement, to cover in the space between the 
negative and the camera. If the arrangement is tipped up, so 
that there is uninterrupted sky behind the negative as seen 
from the lens, there is no need for the ground glass, and daylight 
can be used. As in such a case a small stop is often employed 
in the lens, it is important to make quite sure that the view of 
the sky is uninterrupted, as buildings, chimneys, and even a 
strongly marked cloud form, may show in the result. But 
clouds are not likely to be troublesome. 

Many photographers like to use daylight for their enlarging. 
The simplest method is by means of a fixed focus enlarging 
camera, which is merely a box or bellows, at one end of which 
the negative is placed, and at the other end a holder for the 
bromide paper. Between the two, in such a position that it 
forms a sharp image on the paper, is fixed a single lens. In 
the simpler forms, the whole arrangement is carried into the 
dark room to insert the bromide paper, and then carried out 
and placed on end so that the negative is exposed to the un¬ 
interrupted light of the sky. More elaborate patterns have a 
dark slide in which the paper can be carried. The best method, 
however, is to have an opening into the dark room (Fig. 30 ), 
which can be closed with the negative itself, or with a frame 
holding it, and provided outside with a white reflector. The 
ordinary camera with which the negative was taken may be 
placed, with its focussing screen removed, on a bench against 
the negative, and the focussing cloth used to block out any 
light between the junction of the camera back and negative 
holder. The enlarged picture is then focussed on the easeL 
There is no need to get a special lens for enlarging. Any lens 
that sufficed to take the original negative may be used to 
enlarge from it up to any size that may be required. 



GRANNIK’S STOCKING 


15V ARCHII5AI.D COCHRANE 







ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 273 

It will be seen that the choice of arrangements is a large one, 
and must be decided by the conditions and by the character of 
the work to be done. Fixed focus enlargers and apparatus of 
the camera type suffer from one limitation, which for some 
work quite puts them out of court—there is no opportunity 
of modifying the resulting enlargement by shading or dodging 
during exposure. With an enlarging lantern, or with such 
a system as that represented in Fig. 30 , this is easily done, 
the photographer standing beside the enlarged image on the 
easel, and shading it with as much ease as if he were contact 



Fig. 30. 


printing, or even more. The different means of effecting such 
alterations are dealt with in Chapter XX. There is one altera¬ 
tion which may be mentioned more appropriately here : it is the 
curing of distortion due to the camera used in the first case 
not having been level. The result is that perpendicular lines 
in the original, in the photograph converge towards the top. If 
such a negative be placed in the enlarging lantern, and the 
easel on which the image is focussed is swung so that it is no 
longer vertical, but that part of it which is receiving the part of 
the image where the vertical lines are closer together is tilted 
away from the lens, that part of the picture will be rendered on 
a bigger scale, and if it is done sufficiently, the lines will be 
made parallel again, and on a superficial examination there will 

T 




























274 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


be no distortion noticeable. The method has two inconveni¬ 
ences : a very small stop must be used in enlarging, to bring all 
parts of the image to a sharp focus on such a surface, and it 
also introduces foreshortening, or perhaps, to avoid accusations 
of inaccuracy, it would be best to call it “ forelengthening.” 
These are both surmounted by inclining both negative and 
screen, as shown in Fig. 31. The exact inclination of each can 
be calculated, but for all ordinary purposes it will be found that 
a result which is practically free from distortion can be obtained 
by tilting both till the convergence disappears, while the degree 
of tilt given to the easel is a little larger than that given to 
the negative. Some enlarging lanterns allow the negative to 
be swung in this way, and it is easy to swing it when the 



arrangement shown in Fig. 30 is being used. There is then no 
need to tilt either negative or easel, as, by placing the nega¬ 
tive on its side, the camera may be twisted slightly round on 
the table, the easel being moved and twisted also, until the 
vertical lines in the subject are all strictly horizontal in the 
enlargement. A similar method has been used, or suggested, 
for curing the distortion, cushion or barrel shaped, due to the 
use of a single lens, by making an enlargement—which, to use 
an Irishism, may be the same size, or even smaller—with the 
same lens with the stop in the same position, as regards the 
original negative, as it was when that was taken. The second 
bending of the lines is in the reverse direction, and therefore 
tends to correct the first. 

The bromide paper usually employed for enlargements is 
fastened on the easel with pins, or may be held under a sheet 



ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 275 

of glass. A piece of white paper is fastened on the easel for 
focussing purposes, or in some enlarging arrangements the 
easel carries a ground glass focussing screen, focussing then 
being done from the back as in an ordinary camera. A third 
method combines the two, a hole an inch or two in diameter 
being cut in the easel, and glazed with a piece of ground glass, 
on which fine focussing may be done with a magnifier. This 
is a refinement which is not required unless the illumination 
is very poor indeed. All the needful arrangements can be 
made very easily on the white paper. When this has been 
done, the lens is covered, not with an ordinary opaque cap, but 
with one glazed with yellow glass, so that the adjustment of 
the bromide paper in the exact position required is facilitated. 

By substituting a plate for the bromide paper, and a 
positive transparency for the negative, an enlarged negative 
can be made. The plate should be a slow one and backed. 
The positive must not be one of the same character as a 
good lantern slide. In lantern slides, the highest lights should 
be almost transparent, or the slide will not look bright and 
effective on the screen. Such a positive makes a very poor 
enlarged negative, as it is not possible to keep the detail in 
the shadows ; in fact, theory confirms what practice has long 
shown to be the case, that while it is possible from a good 
print to obtain a fair quality negative, it is not possible to 
make a good negative from a good lantern slide, and the 
better the slide, the less suitable for the purpose will it be. 
The positive for enlarged negative making requires a longer 
exposure than does the same plate when a slide is to be the 
result, the positive being kept thin and possessing a distinct 
and printable image in its highest lights. In developing 
enlarged negatives, those who are only accustomed to deal 
with small ones are sure to have a tendency to over-develop. 
The wider separation of the high lights and shadows, due to 
their size, makes the negative seem much thinner than it 
actually is. Time development in this is as useful as in other 
cases. As large plates are expensive, bromide paper has been 
used successfully for making enlarged negatives, as has also 
negative paper. A negative on bromide paper must not 
resemble a good enlargement, but should look like an enlarge¬ 
ment that was both over-exposed and over-developed. Some 


276 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


workers make such an enlargement direct from the negative, 
and then print an enlarged negative from it, by contact; but 
the usual practice is to make a small transparency, and to 
make the enlargement from that. If enlarging is only done 
occasionally, it will be found economical to use the first plate 
or the first sheet of paper in making a graduated series of 
exposure tests. In making an enlarged negative the exposure 
of each strip should be double that of the preceding one, but 
in making enlargements on bromide paper there should be 
at least one intermediate exposure, as was explained in the 
chapter on bromide printing. In most packets of large size 
bromide paper a small piece is included for the trial exposure. 
This is of little use, as it is not often possible to get a really 
reliable guide to exposure from a piece less than half the size 
of the entire sheet. The small piece cannot take into con¬ 
sideration any widely separated tones ; and if a guide is needed 
at all, it is needed to give information accurate enough to save 
wasting a whole sheet of paper. A sheet or half a sheet used 
deliberately on a test should give precisely the information 
required, whereas a sheet exposed in the ordinary way, if found 
to be incorrectly exposed, only gives a rough suggestion of what 
the correct exposure might be, and it may take three or four 
more pieces, used in the same way, to get the best result. 


II 

It has been said that the greatest test of technical excellence 
in a negative is making a lantern slide from it, and the observa¬ 
tion is very true. Prints can be dodged to an unlimited extent, 
minute pinholes in the negative are lost in a rough surface 
print, even large holes can be stopped out entirely with a little 
skill, so as to pass quite unnoticed ; but spotting on a lantern 
slide is almost impossible The searching magnification it gets 
on the sheet, the complete absence of anything to correspond 
to the texture of the surface of a paper print, the difficulty, or 
rather, the impossibility, of making a complete match in tone 
and outline between pigment applied with a brush and the 
delicate shades of the developed image, all combine to demand 
that the slide to a great extent shall be an “ unfaked ” copy 


ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 277 


of a flawless original negative. But if the test is a severe 
one, the result, when successful, more than justifies it. The 
“optical lantern”—for it is “magic” no longer—properly 
worked, remains the best method of showing the beauties of 
a photographic picture. Comparatively few pictorial workers 
adopt it, but this is only to be expected. Comparatively few 
pictorial workers are sufficiently capable technicians for their 
work to stand such a test, but that men like Stieglitz and F. H. 
Evans have been slide makers is sufficient to show that there 
is nothing inherent in the process which unfits it as a means 
of pictorial expression. Those whose ideas of a “picture” are 
limited to something that might pass as the work of an artist 
in some other medium—a mezzotint or a monochrome painting, 
for example—condemn the lantern slide as inartistic. The 
association of the magic lantern with Sunday-school treats 
and tea-fights makes those who are keenly sensitive to ridicule 
avoid anything leading to its use ; but the time will come, we 
are assured, when the fact that pictorial photographers wilfully 
threw aside one of their most powerful mediums of expression, 
and one that is peculiarly photographic, will excite the surprise 
and condemnation of their successors. In the meanwhile, those 
societies which are cultivating slide work should be encouraged, 
and the amateur photographer, who has passed the novitiate of 
negative making, should not regard his progress as complete 
until it has likewise led him into slide making. 

Lantern-slide making, in its simplest form, is merely a 
printing upon glass instead of paper. Lantern plates are 
coated with an emulsion of bromide paper character, or there¬ 
abouts, and being exposed underneath a negative are developed 
much as a negative is developed, and yield a black image. A 
slower form of lantern plate is capable of being exposed for 
many times the normal exposure for black tones, and then so 
developed as to give warm colours. This process is akin to 
that which has been suggested for “ gaslight ” paper; but most 
of the lantern plates to which it is applicable, while slower 
than black-tone plates, are still too fast to be worked in 
gaslight, and a yellow light must be used for them. Gaslight 
la/atern plates are also made. 

Slide making by contact is a very easy operation. In the 
yellow light the lantern plate is placed behind the negative in 


278 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


a printing frame, and it is exposed, developed, and fixed. A 
special form of frame is made for the purpose, and is con¬ 
venient, but is not a necessity. There is a standard size for 
lantern plates, so that they may fit the lantern carrier. This 
in the United Kingdom is 3 ^ inches square. In the United 
States the size is 3 J inches in height, and 4 inches in width; so 
that American slides will fit British carriers of the “ push- 
through ” type where width is immaterial, but not other patterns. 
In consequence of the limitation of size, the largest possible 
picture on a lantern plate, with due allowance for margin, is 
3 inches each way, or a trifle less, and a square shape is very 
seldom satisfactory We therefore have to confront the difficulty 
in making slides by contact, that either the negative must be 
specially taken, occupying a small portion of a quarter-plate— 
not much more than half—or we can only get a part of the 
complete subject on the slide. Alas ! that it should be so; but 
in the great majority of slides it is only too apparent that the 
latter course has been adopted, and the vital parts of the picture 
are either partly off the slide, or what is even worse, are just 
squeezed on ; so that the one thought in the spectator’s brain 
is the close shave they had to get on at all. The slide printing 
frame is an appliance to help in the selection of the particular 
part of the negative that is to be got on the slide. It is a 
frame provided with a flat surface, which may be of wood or of 
glass with a mask of the required size. If of wood, it has a 
square opening in its centre about 3 ^ inches each way. On 
this surface the negative is put, film upwards, and is shifted 
about until the part which is to appear on the slide is seen 
centrally in the opening, when the back of the frame is fastened 
on, and holds the negative firmly in position. In the back is 
an opening a shade larger than a lantern plate, and provided 
with a door. The lantern plate can then be dropped into this 
opening so that its film comes against the film of the negative, 
and the door being closed it is ready for exposure. The 
greatest advantage of this apparatus is that it removes all risk 
of sliding the lantern plate on the negative, which would 
damage one or both if there should be the slightest particle 
of grit between the two. Otherwise, an ordinary printing- 
frame, a size larger than the negative, to allow of adjustment, 
may be used with a piece of clean glass in it, upon which to 


ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 279 


place the negative. Some of the finest slides that have ever 
been made were produced by the collodion emulsion process; 
but this is now quite obsolete for the purpose, although it is 
still used in certain photo-mechanical processes. The ordinary 
gelatine lantern plate at its best, however, will yield results 
quite equal to collodion emulsion. Unfortunately it is but 
seldom that one sees the gelatine plate at its best; possibly due 
to the “ fatal facility ” with which it can be worked. 

The other method of exposure has already been referred to ; 
it is effected by means of the camera, exactly as in enlarging, 
except that the image is smaller rather than larger than the 
original. The best slides are necessarily made in this manner, 
and it enables any part of the negative, or the whole of it, to 
be reproduced on the lantern plate of the size required to 
occupy it properly. It is not easy to explain why it should be 
so, but this method can undoubtedly be made to yield finer 
definition in the slide than any method of contact printing. 
All risk of injuring the surface of either negative or plate is 
avoided, and converging vertical lines can be corrected just as 
they can in enlarging. The only requisites are means for 
evenly illuminating the negative, such as have been dealt with 
in the earlier portion of this chapter, and a carrier to fit into 
the dark slide to hold a plate 3 J inches square. Fixed focus 
lantern-slide cameras are made on similar lines to the fixed 
enlargers. They can be used with daylight in the same way; 
or by placing a couple of sheets of ground glass, an inch apart, 
an inch behind the negative, it may then be lit by a lamp, by 
incandescent gas, or by magnesium ribbon. Exposures are 
shorter than when enlarging, as the light is not spread over so 
large an area. 

The development of lantern plates, except when black tones 
are to be obtained, is not so easy as the development of 
negatives. More light can be employed, but there is much 
difficulty in determining when to stop development, on account 
of the colour of the deposit, which is light, and not so very 
different from that of the unaltered sensitive salt. There is 
not the extensive range of developers that are applicable for 
negative making, as some of these give colours which in a 
lantern slide are not attractive; but there are still very many 
that can be used, pyro and hydrokinone being the most popular. 


280 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


To obtain warmer tones, the developer is restrained by add¬ 
ing bromide, and the exposure increased. Most of the text¬ 
books put great stress on the control of the colour by increasing 
the exposure to some definite extent; but this is putting the 
cart before the horse. The governing factor in the question 
of colour is the time of development, and this in its turn is 
influenced by the composition of the developer. To get uniform 
colour we must therefore employ the same developer each time, 
and must so regulate the exposure that the development to the 
proper density is carried out always in the same time. It will 
be seen that this removes the great difficulty of correct density. 
The developer is applied for the required time, and the slide is 
then washed and fixed. If it is too dense, a fresh plate is ex¬ 
posed for a little shorter time ; if too thin, the next exposure 
is longer, the time of development being kept the same. 

Lantern plates may be fixed in the ordinary or in the acid- 
hypo bath, as preferred, and are washed and dried exactly as 
is done with negatives. Just before placing a finished slide in 
the rack to dry, it should be held under the tap and rubbed 
very gently with a tuft of cotton wool. The slightest abrasion 
of the surface may show when it is on the sheet, so it must be 
done carefully, and the slide must be dried where there is no 
fear of dust getting at it, as this when magnified in the lantern 
is much more apparent than when printed from a negative. 
Slides on lantern plates may be reduced or intensified in 
exactly the same manner as negatives. The Wellington inten- 
sifier is said not to affect the colour of the slide, but it is 
doubtful how far this would hold good with very warm tones. 
All other intensifiers alter the colour, and have a tendency to 
choke up the shadows; they are best avoided, and if a slide is 
too thin a fresh one should be made. A slight reduction 
improves many slides, if it is not allowed to go very far. It 
just clears up the high lights, and generally makes the slide 
look cleaner. If carried a shade beyond what is required for 
such a purpose, the slide is ruined irretrievably, so that it is 
better not to tamper with a good slide by reducing it in the 
hope of making it better still. The ferricyanide hypo reducer 
is the best for the purpose, sufficient of a io per cent, solution 
of ferricyanide being added to some of the fixing bath to give 
it a pale ) ellow colour. 



GOING TO THE POST 


t 









ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 281 


Slides having a warm tone obtained by development may 
have this modified by applying to the finished slide either a 
combined toning and fixing bath or a plain sulpho-cyanide and 
gold bath, such as is used for P.O.P. In this way some very 
fine purple colours are obtained, and many of the better com¬ 
mercial lantern slides are made by this or by a similar method. 
As gold toning tends to make a warm colour colder, it is 
useless to apply such baths to a black-toned slide; but most 
of the methods already referred to for toning bromide prints 
are equally applicable to lantern slides, though the colours 
are not always the same. The sulphur toning mentioned 
on page 263 gives a very good colour to a black slide, but all 
toning methods tend to make the slide heavy and opaque, and 
the colour is never quite as good and transparent as it is in the 
best slides obtained by development pure and simple. 

It is not easy to introduce clouds into a lantern slide, and 
in most cases the fact of their introduction is apparent and 
therefore to be condemned. The method usually adopted is to 
print the clouds on a separate plate, develop it with the first 
side by side, so as to obtain identical colour, and then to bind 
up the two together, film to film. Manifestly, this cannot be 
done when there is a risk of a cloud form showing across some 
part of the picture on the other glass, and this limits the 
possibilities. A lantern plate may be fixed up on the enlarging 
easel, and a small image of the cloud projected on it through the 
landscape slide—which in this case must be made first—which is 
placed in contact with it, film to film. The landscape then acts 
as a mask, and spaces on it where the clouds might print 
through, and are not wanted, may be blocked up with pigment 
on the glass side of the landscape. This is a perfect method in 
theory, but in practice it is hampered by the difficulty of 
getting clouds and landscape into absolute register and keeping 
them there. If this is not done, the result can only be described 
as painful to the producer and ludicrous to the spectators. 
Still, it is possible, and when done is effective enough. 

A supplementary picture on the cover glass has been used 
as a means of toning down parts, which were too light in the 
original slide, without affecting the rest. A thin negative 
image is obtained on a lantern plate by making a contact print 
with the slide itself as the negative. This is developed, and 


282 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the parts which are not wanted are reduced away entirely, 
after which the two are bound up together in register, the 
negative image on one toning down excessively bright lights in 
the other as required. In binding up such slides it is better 
to put the mask outside, the two films being just moistened at 
the four corners with a touch of gum ; they are put together 
and carefully adjusted in the usual way. Toned slides are 
generally improved by being varnished before they are bound 
up; ordinary negative varnish answers excellently for the 
purpose. 

While the opportunities of “ dodging ” a slide are not by 
any means so extensive or so varied as with a print, a great 
deal more can be done than many slide-makers seem to realize. 
Shading during exposure is possible whenever the photographer 
can see between the lens and the lantern plate, but when a 
slide-making camera is used this is impracticable. Then the 
finished slide can be locally reduced by means of a physical 
reducer, such as Baskett’s “Globe polish ” (seep. 314 ). Mr. 
Wild, who has been very successful as a slide-maker, states 
that with a piece of flannel moistened with “ Baskett ” fairly 
large areas may be rubbed down evenly and quickly. If care 
is used, there is little risk of scratching, and with practice light 
and atmosphere may be rubbed into an evenly tinted sky, or 
one or two well-placed touches may give life and texture to a 
flat expanse of water. For smaller areas the flannel may be 
folded two or three times, and used edgeways. For still 
smaller portions a piece of soft cork cut to a convenient shape 
may be used, and for smaller still, a wooden match, which 
should be cut to a blunt chisel edge, and the sharp edges 
rubbed off with a piece of fine glass paper. Another method of 
reduction, a chemical one this time, is by the use of— 

Saturated solution of iodine in alcohol ... ... 1 part 

Saturated solution of potassium cyanide in water ... 2 parts 

^ ater ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (Quantity sufficient 

This, be it observed, is very poisonous. “ By reason of its 
clean working,” says Mr. Wild, “it can be used, if necessary, 
with a brush on the dry film, and so affords an easy means 
of completely taking out any portion, leaving a sharp clean 
edge.” He also states that it does not alter the colour even of 


ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 383 


warm-toned slides, and may be used, if desired, for general 
reduction. . 

The finished slide has got to be mounted with a cover glass 
to protect its film before it is ready to be shown in the lantern. 
In public that is, for in private no slide ought to be mounted 
until it has been seen in the lantern and thought worthy. 
Black-toned slides may be judged, after a fashion, by looking 
through them at a sheet of white paper, but any other colour— 
never. The appearance in the hand is no guide to the appear¬ 
ance on the sheet. Photographers starting out to make lantern 
slides for the first time have been known to purchase cover 
glasses as well as lantern plates ; it certainly saves the trouble 
of cleaning the film off the defective slides, but is not otherwise 
economical; and he is an exceptionally skilful worker or else 
an easily satisfied one who can get six slides worth mounting 
out of a box of twelve plates. This is not to say that the 
process is exceptionally difficult, quite the contrary; but rather 
that when all the arrangements are made, it is such a little 
trouble to make a second or third slide, and costs so little for 
material, that the photographer is certainly justified in doing 
so, if he thinks he can get in any way an improved result. The 
first stage in mounting is masking. Masks can be purchased, 
neatly cut out of thin black paper, and if a sufficiently large 
assortment of sizes is obtained there is little difficulty in getting 
one to fit each slide. If there should be any, a strip of black 
binding paper will put things right. It may be taken as a 
general rule, to which exceptions must be extremely rare, that 
the best mask is one with a rectangular opening and perfectly 
straight sides. Circles, domes, cusnions. ovals, squares with or 
without rounded corners are unsuitable. In arranging a picture 
on the ground glass, we instinctively do so with reference to 
the boundaries of the glass itself, or without reference to any 
particular form. Hence to show such a picture subsequently, 
in a shape which is either actively unsuitable or at least notice¬ 
able, is to weaken the effect of the picture by diverting attention 
to its shape. A circle or oval is sometimes permissible, if the 
picture has been expressly arranged to suit it, but not other¬ 
wise. The other shapes are too assertive to be used at any 
time. Many workers mask each slide by means of four strips 
applied separately, but it is not easy to get true right angles in 


284 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


this way. After masking, the slide should be thoroughly dried, 
and the cover glass also, unless it is of bare glass, and the two 
are then brought together and bound with the gummed silk or 
paper strips sold for the purpose, attaching two strips to 
opposite ends of the slide and then the other two when those 
first applied are dry. Silk strips last longer than paper, but 
are not so easily applied. It only remains to attach two 
circular spots of white paper to the glass at the top corners 
facing the eye, when the view seen on looking through the 
slide is the right way round and the right side up. These are 
a guide to the lanternist, and enable him to put the slide into 
the lantern in the one position which, out of the eight possible, 
is the only one which will bring the picture in the proper 
aspect on the screen. 

Lantern slides are generally accepted as the means by 
which photographs can best be shown to large audiences, but 
it is a great mistake to limit them in this manner. The error 
is due to the attempt to use too large a screen, which entails 
the necessity of employing 
an unnecessarily powerful 
light. For ordinary dis¬ 
plays at home, a screen 4 
feet each way, if good, is all 
that is wanted, and portable 
screens, rolling up into a 
very small space, can be 
used. Generally speaking, 
a “ sheet ” will not do, as it 
is not opaque enough and 
is very wasteful of light. 

The most convenient port¬ 
able screen is one shown in 
Fig. 32 . The two uprights 
are hinged where they join the box and fold down and form its 
lid. The box contains the screen which is wound on a spring 
roller, and is set up in a moment by lifting the bar attached to 
one end of the screen and catching its ends in the notches in 
the uprights, as shown. A better screen still for home use is 
made by getting a frame-maker to construct a picture frame 
of plain dark moulding, such as is used in house decorating 





















ENLARGING, REDUCING, SLIDE MAKING 285 


rather than for picture framing, and also to make a board 
which shall fit in behind the moulding in place of a picture. 
The front surface of the board must be planed quite smooth, 
and should receive two or three coats of white paint. The 
paint surface is not a good one to receive the slides, but is the 
best basis for a smooth layer of white paper which is pasted 
down on it before the board is put into the frame. When this 
gets soiled it is very little trouble to replace it with fresh. 
Such a screen, 4 feet each way, can be hung on the wall for use, 
like a picture, but its lower edge should not be more than 
2 feet from the floor. With a good lantern lens and 
a suitable condenser, lantern slides may be projected on to 
such a screen with ordinary incandescent gas, with perfect 
success and no sense of a deficiency of illumination. But to 
do this, the room must be perfectly dark, the lantern should be 
efficiently light-tight, and there should be no white disc thrown 
on the screen ; it should never be seen unless either it bears a 
picture or is dark. The pleasure of a little lantern exhibition 
on these lines must be experienced to be appreciated. There 
is no “ crick ” in the neck from gazing upwards at gigantic 
pictures on a colossal screen ; no heat or smell from limelight 
in a lantern that is on the point of bursting into flames; no 
sense of the ridiculous or even of the horrible from the magnifi¬ 
cation of little things to many times life-size. One’s friends 
may sit comfortably round and view at their ease, pictures 
neither out of scale nor dazzlingly bright and hard. There 
is no doubt the lantern is the way to show photographs, and 
those who fail to appreciate this should see a lantern show 
well done, on the lines indicated 


CHAPTER XIX 


ORTHOCHROMATIC AND COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 

The ordinary plate insensitive to yellow and red—Not an unmixed evil—Colour con¬ 
trast—Pure and impure colours—Two classes of orthochromatic plates—Light 
filters—Measuring their effect—Screened plates—Colour photography—The 
only “direct” process, the Lippmann—Colour vision—The Young Helmholz theory 
—Three-colour work—The lantern and photo-chromoscope—Coloured lights and 
coloured pigments—Methods of “printing”—Screen-plate colour photography— 
The Joly process—The Autochrome and other commercial forms—Uto paper. 

I N an earlier chapter the use of orthochromatic plates has 
been referred to, but nothing was said as to the details of 
their manipulation. It was at a very early stage in the history 
of photography that the inconveniences of the irregular sensi¬ 
tiveness to different colours of all photographic preparations 
were experienced ; but nothing of importance was done to 
remedy it, until Dr. H. W. Vogel found that the addition of 
certain dyes to the sensitive silver salts made them far more 
sensitive than they were otherwise, to yellow and red. It is 
on this basis that all modern commercial orthochromatic plates 
are prepared, although Sir William Abney succeeded, many 
years ago, in preparing an undyed collodion plate sensitive to 
the extreme red. 

If the insensitiveness of plates to yellow and red is some¬ 
times troublesome, it is far more often a very good feature of 
which the photographer takes full advantage, by using light of 
those colours in his dark room ; and we must not forget that 
when we have the perfect orthochromatic plate, the plate which 
will give us true rendering of all colours in monochrome with¬ 
out any light filter, we shall have a plate that must be manipu¬ 
lated in perfect darkness. And that will not be its only doubtful 
virtue. Colour contrasts will disappear entirely in our photo¬ 
graphs, and the photographer will have to pay much more 

286 


ORTHOCHROMATIC PHOTOGRAPHY 


287 


attention to a subject which at present he can largely ignore. 
Ail example will serve to make this point clearer. 

Let us imagine we have a draught-board, who**? squares, 
instead of being white and black, are respectively blue and red, 
of exactly the same intensity. To the eye such squares would 
be almost, if not quite, as visible as if they were black and 
white, though we should be unable to say which was intended 
to represent the lighter series of squares. With a perfect ortho- 
chromatic plate the photograph of such a board would show no 
signs of its divisions into squares at all, but, as both colours 
were of equal intensity, the board would appear of a smooth, 
even tint all over. This is an extreme case, and one which 
could only be brought about deliberately and with much 
trouble; but it will serve to show one of the directions in which 
the perfect orthochromatic plate might not be all that was 
wanted. 

The ordinary or non-orthochromatized plate is extremely 
sensitive to blue and violet light, so much so that any object of 
a very intense blue colour photographs almost like white. 
Violet also, so long as it is true violet and free from red, photo¬ 
graphs far lighter than it appears to the eye. Green, on the 
other hand, appears much too dark in a photograph, while pure 
yellow, and still more pure red, appear practically as dark as 
absolute black. To take a very common example, an orange 
placed on the customary greyish-black focussing cloth, and 
photographed on an ordinary plate, appears in the print almost 
as dark as the cloth itself, yet to the eye the fruit stands out as 
a brilliant high light. This is an exceptional instance, the skin 
of the orange being of a particularly pure colour. The great 
majority of the colours in nature are far from pure, but, when 
analyzed, show themselves to be subtle compounds made up of 
many tints, some of them quite unsuspected. Then, again, 
most natural objects have a surface which reflects a great deal 
of white light, foliage being a case in point; and this white light 
will affect the plate, even if the object from which it is reflected 
is of a colour to which the plate is insensitive. These and other 
considerations prevent the non-orthochromatic nature of the 
undyed plate from being the unmitigated nuisance which, under 
less favourable circumstances, it would be Still, at times it 
may yield a result that is absurdly false. Highly coloured 


288 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


flowers and insects are often impossible of transcript without 
orthochromatic plates, as, of course, are paintings and many 
artificial productions. 

The insensitiveness of the plate to red is not usually very 
important, as pure red is so uncommon as to be met with 
scarcely at all ; in addition, red is not a colour of great lumin¬ 
osity. With yellow it is different. Yellow, to the eye, is the 
brightest of all the spectrum colours, and a comparatively pure 
yellow is not an uncommon colour. Green provides still more 
of a case in point. Green is often almost as bright to the eye 
as yellow, while in outdoor nature green vastly predominates. 
Moreover, the ordinary plate is even less sensitive to green than 
it is to yellow, so much so that it has been suggested that green 
instead of yellow or red glass should be used for the illumina¬ 
tion of the dark room. 

Plates orthockromatized to get over these drawbacks are 
now issued by almost every maker, and although these plates 
differ amongst themselves, they may be divided broadly into 
two classes: those that are treated so as to be more sensitive 
than otherwise to green and yellow, but still not so as to be 
very sensitive to red ; the other those which are sensitive to red 
also. Plates of the former class can be used in dark rooms lit 
by red light, with but very little more precaution against fog 
than would be required with extra-rapid non-orthochromatic 
plates ; those of the latter class must either be worked by speci¬ 
ally prepared glasses in the lamp, which generally allow so little 
light to pass that the only thing to be seen in the dark room is 
the lamp itself, or must be worked in total darkness. A “ safe 
light” for red sensitive plates has been termed a “modified 
darkness,” while one writer, with picturesque exaggeration, 
said his lamp gave so little light that when he shut his eyes 
the room brightened up considerably. Red sensitive plates 
have done much to make time development a necessity. 
r Whatever the method of orthochromatizing may be, it 
always, so far, has failed to make a plate as sensitive to yellow 
and green as it is to blue and violet, and as both yellow and 
green to the eye appear the more luminous, something more 
must be done if the orthochromatic plate is to show a result 
noticeably more truthful than can be got with an ordinary plate 
This something is the use of a colour screen or light filter, a 



A WATER BYE-WAY 

BY MRS. WOOTTON 









ORTHOCHROMATIC PHOTOGRAPHY 


289 


transparent coloured glass or filter which, by stopping some of 
the light to which the plate is unduly sensitive, but allowing all 
to which it is insufficiently sensitive to pass, goes some way 
to correct the error in colour rendering, still present with the 
orthochromatic plate. 

By the use of a suitable light filter a very fair rendering of 
green and yellow objects can be obtained on an ordinary plate, 
but the exposure is increased to such an extent as to deprive 
the method of any particular value. Mr. Arthur Payne some 
years ago published two illustrations to show this. Both were 
taken on ordinary plates, one without a screen, the other 
with a yellow colour screen, which increased the exposure from 
half a second to an hour. The result was a very fair rendering 
of the subject. Had an orthochromatic plate of the same 
general speed been employed, the half-second exposure with¬ 
out a screen would probably have been a little but not much 
better than on the ordinary plate ; but a light filter could have 
been made which would have given as good a result, if not 
one actually better than that obtained with the hours ex¬ 
posure, but calling for an exposure of not more than five or six 
seconds. In other words, at least as good a result can be got 
on an orthochromatic plate with a screen increasing the ex¬ 
posure ten times as can be got on an ordinary plate with a 
screen calling for several thousand times the exposure ; both 
plates without a screen being of about the same rapidity. 

As the colour screen to be of any service must cut off some 
of the light to which the plate is sensitive, it necessarily 
lengthens the exposure. The extent to which it does this 
depends upon the nature and depth of the colour of the screen, 
the colour-sensitiveness of the plate, and the character of the 
light. This last consideration greatly increases the difficulty 
of determining the increased exposure a screen requires, since 
in the white light of midday the proportionate increase is much 
greater than in the yellow light of a late afternoon, or of most 
forms of artificial illumination. In fact, for work with artificial 
light a colour screen is seldom needed. 

For hand-camera work, any colour screen at all is only 
possible either when the conditions are very favourable, as in 
photographing open landscapes with no heavy foreground 
shadows, or else when the apparatus is provided with a very 


290 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


fast lens and a slow shutter. The introduction of a dye known 
as “ Filter Yellow Kwhich is particularly suitable for colour- 
screen work, has made it possible to prepare screens which give 
a very fair correction for a comparatively small increase in the 
exposure. Thus in the “ K ” series of screens, which are pre¬ 
pared by Messrs. Wratten and Wainwright, the weakest of 
these, known as Ki, when used with orthochromatic plates of 
the ordinary kind calls for an increase of exposure not more 
than three times, or if a “ panchromatic ” or red sensitive plate 
is used, the increase is only double. The K2 screen requires 
twice or three times as great an increase, while the K3 screen, 
which is made for use with the panchromatic plates only, 
increases the exposure six times, but gives a rendering which is 
practically correct throughout. Of these screens, the Ki with 
a panchromatic plate can be used under most of the ordinary 
hand-camera conditions quite successfully ; while we have used 
the K3 for hand-camera work, with a lens at F/4/5, without 
finding that the exposures were so long as to make a stand a 
necessity. For such purposes, however, the shutters fitted to 
most hand-cameras are not slow enough, or rather are not 
controllably slow enough, to be of much service. 

For landscape and similar work for which a stand lean be 
used, the K3 screen is certainly the best, if the panchromatic 
plates are employed ; if not, the K2 will do very well, and will 
give a rendering very much more correct than could possibly be 
obtained on ordinary plates. For strongly coloured subjects, 
where correct colour rendering is of great importance, as for 
example in picture-copying, a panchromatic plate and a K3 or 
similar screen becomes a necessity. Such a combination also 
presents very great advantages in certain special work, as for 
instance in photographing polished mahogany furniture, as 
some examples by Messrs. Wratten and Wainwright have 
shown. Photographed in the ordinary way, the bright reflec¬ 
tions from the polished surface completely hide all signs of the 
pattern of the wood ; whereas when photographed so that the 
colours are correct, the reflections take quite a subordinate place, 
and the beauty of the woodwork is rendered with the same 
clearness as it is seen. 

Correct colour rendering would be a very great gain in 
portrait work, beyond question, since much of the retouching 


ORTHOCHROMATIC PHOTOGRAPHY 


291 


which is necessary in portraiture is due to the way in which the 
non-orthochromatic plate exaggerates any slightly yellow or red 
Ireckles or spots on the skin. It has even been said that 
attacks of skin disease have been detected by the spots being 
visible in a photograph some time before they were to be seen 
on the skin itself; and it is quite possible that something of 
the sort may have happened, although I have never been able 
to fix the date and locality of any actual occurrence. The 
difficulty about colour correct portraiture is that it would 
necessitate the exposures being increased to at least six times 
their present length ; and although in a well-illuminated studio 
this by no means makes it impracticable, still the increase is 
one which most portrait photographers would regard as a 
serious inconvenience, as many would the use of red-sensitive 
plates and the dark-room modifications which they impose. 
The fact remains that comparatively few orthochromatic plates 
are used in the studio, and we do not know of any professional 
worker who has habitually employed them with a colour 
screen for portraiture. 

An important departure has been made in recent years by 
the introduction of orthochromatic plates which have had the 
dye-stuff of the colour screen incorporated in their emulsion, 
so that no separate colour screen was a necessity with them 
Such plates are known as “ Anti-screen ” or “ Self-screened ” or 
“Screened” plates, or by some similar title, and are supplied by 
several makers. They have come into considerable favour for 
landscape and general amateur photography, chiefly because 
while they give a decidedly better rendering than an ortho¬ 
chromatic plate of the usual type without a screen, they do so 
with only a slight increase in the exposure necessary, and 
without any of the bother, real or supposed, which the screen 
itself entails. There does not appear to be any actual gain in 
sensitiveness. If a screen of any kind is used, it must prolong 
the exposure ; and if a screened plate proves to be nearly as 
sensitive as the fastest unscreened plate, it is safe to conclude 
that the screening action can only be comparatively feeble. It 
may be enough for most purposes, but it cannot be extensive. 
No screened plate we have used has given as good correction, 
as can be obtained with the same maker’s unscreened ortho¬ 
chromatic plates used with a separate five times colour screen. 


292 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


The comparative feebleness of the screening is not altogether an 
objection. Were it more complete, it would make the plates 
very much slower; and it must be remembered that the screen 
on a “ self-screened ” plate cannot be removed. So that such 
plates would be out of the question for most work with a shutter, 
such as hand-camera work ; whereas at present they are not 
so thoroughly screened as to make them too slow for such 
purposes, while, when a more perfect colour rendering is re¬ 
quired, there is no reason why, with such plates, an additional 
colour screen should not be used in the usual way. The fastest 
screened plates, in ordinary daylight, are about two-thirds as 
fast as the fastest unscreened plates. 

Colour screens are made in various ways. The colouring 
matter is now almost always a dye, which is used to stain either 
a gelatine or a collodion film. At one time screens of coloured 
glass were used, and there are still a good many about. They 
gave a very fair colour correction, but were open to the 
objection that in proportion to the correction they increased 
the exposure unduly. This they did because the glass is not a 
true yellow, but a yellow-brown, as can be seen by putting such 
a screen on a sheet of white paper. The brown was due to an 
admixture of black with the yellow, and while this black, 
cutting down light of all colours indiscriminately, did not inter¬ 
fere with the correction exercised by the yellow, at least it made 
a longer exposure necessary. For many years liquid light 
filters were extensively used in America, though they never 
were popular in Europe. These filters consisted of a glass 
trough or cell, which could be filled with a suitably coloured 
liquid. The solutions used with them were chiefly those of 
potassium bichromate, potassium chromate, naphthol yellow, and 
ammonium picrate. Such screens have also been used in three- 
colour work. Their place has been taken almost completely 
by the screen of dyed film. 

The dyed film, being very thin, may be used in the lens just 
as it is, without much fear of the corrections of the lens beino- 

o 

affected ; and such film screens can be obtained very cheaply. 
If the lens is one of old-fashioned type, fitted for Waterhouse 
stops, a simple fitting to take the screen may be made of thin 
blackened card. This is folded over so as to be of double 
thickness, and is then cut out in the shape of one of the stops. 


ORTHOCHROMATIC PHOTOGRAPHY 


293 


with an opening of the desired size: the fold should come at 
the bottom of the stop, that is in the part which is first put into 
the lens. When cut, it is opened out and the film of dyed 
gelatine is inserted between the two halves; and it can then be 
slipped into position. It is quite easy to make a little cardboard 
ring to fit into the mount of the lens, when this has not Water- 
house stops, and to attach a circle of the film to this ring, so 
that it is held close to the iris diaphragm. This is the best 
place for a screen of this kind. Other methods of fitting such 
screens will no doubt occur to the reader. The screen of film 
is very easily injured. It is apt to buckle and warp with 
changes in the moisture of the air, and the slightest fingering 
of it leaves indelible marks, which, when present in any numbers, 
have the effect of scattering the light and so making it difficult 
to get clean, strong negatives. Except for purely temporary 
purposes, therefore, it is better to have the screen protected by 
being cemented between two pieces of glass. For most pur¬ 
poses ordinary glass can be used, if it is carefully selected, so as 
to be as flat and true as possible; but for telephotographic work 
with high magnifications this is not good enough, and in certain 
other cases there is a possibility of such glass impairing the 
definition of the lens, and it then becomes necessary to have the 
film cemented between “ optical flats.” This is the name given 
to glass which has had its surfaces ground and polished flat with 
the same refinement that is used for the curved surfaces of a 
lens. In some cases it is possible to put the colour screen 
between the source of light and the object, instead of between 
the object and the plate. It comes to the same thing in the 
long run, as far as colour correction is concerned, and is often 
employed in photomicrography. The quality of the glass of 
the colour screen in such a case is not important. 

The actual position occupied by the colour screen is decided 
more by convenience than by anything else. We have seen 
that it may be actually incorporated with the plate itself. It 
could also be used in the dark slide immediately in front of the 
plate, just behind the lens, between the combinations of the 
lens, just in front of the lens, or between the light and the 
subject. A screen of bare film may be used between the com¬ 
binations of the lens, but it is best not to insert a thickness of 
glass in such a position. If the screen is used between the lens 


294 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


and the plate, it will be found that it slightly alters the focus of 
the lens, lengthening it by about the thickness of the glass 
composing the screen. It is necessary, therefore, either to focus 
with the screen in position, or else to allow for this alteration 
afterwards. Otherwise this is the best place for the colour 
screen, as it is less exposed to scattered light than in front of 
the lens. It is in front, however, that it is most frequently used, 
as it is more easily put on and off, and does not, or at least 
should not, alter the focus when in position. 

As some dyes which are in other respects very suitable for 
colour screens are liable to fade in the course of time if exposed 
to a strong light, the screen when not actually in use should be 
kept in its case. Screens made with “Filter Yellow K” are 
not liable to fade. The screen should be cleaned with the same 
care as the lens, as any loss of polish or scratching on its surface 
is just as injurious as if it were on the lens, except, of course, 
that it is less costly to replace the screen. It is important to 
the user to know as exactly as possible the extent to which his 
colour screen necessitates an increase in the exposure. It is not 
enough to rely upon the selling description “three times,” “six 
times,” or whatever it may be. At the best these are only rough 
approximations, often hardly that; while, as we have already 
seen, the increase depends not only on the colour of the screen 
but also on the nature of the plate. Although there is a family 
likeness between the various ordinary orthochromatic plates 
(that is to say not the red-sensitive variety) on the market, they 
differ considerably amongst themselves as to the increased 
exposure required with any particular colour screen. To ascer¬ 
tain whether the seller’s description is correct, plates should 
be exposed one with and one without the screen, preferably on 
a black-and-white subject, as for example a crumpled white 
cloth, or tuft of cotton-wool laid on a black focussing cloth. If 
the screen is said to be a “four times ” one, we may give one 
plate the exposure known to be correct, and the other three 
separate exposures, one say three times, one four times, and one 
six times that of the other. This can be done by pushing in 
the shutter of the dark slide a little at a time. If the correct 
exposure is not known, it may be found out by exposing a trial 
plate in a series of steps in the same way. The two plates, one 
with and one without the screen, must be developed side by side 


ORTHOCHROMATIC PHOTOGRAPHY 


295 


in the same dish for the same time, and only after they have 
been fixed, washed, and dried, should they be compared. It 
will then be seen which increase in exposure is nearest correct. 
In deciding this it is important to judge only by such parts of 
the plate as have evidently been properly exposed ; any other 
criterion will be found misleading. It is usually more important 
to try longer exposures than those for which the screen is 
nominally provided, rather than shorter ones, as there seems 
to be a tendency to underestimate the increase required: at 
least, we have not come across a screen at any time with which 
this was overestimated. 

A phrase which is much used by some workers is “over¬ 
corrected,” by which they mean that the colour screen used has 
carried the remedy too far, so that red, yellow, and green, 
instead of coming out too dark, as they do without a screen, 
come out too light. Instances of this fault are extremely rare ; 
in fact, we doubt if we have ever seen an example, except one 
made for the purpose. Most cases of “over-correction,” so- 
called, are not actually such at all, but are due to the increase 
in the exposure not having been long enough to give a properly 
exposed plate. The result has been that the plates have been 
over-developed also, and, as a result, the lighter tones have been 
made too hard. In addition to this, some allowance must be 
made for the fact that photographers are apt to be influenced 
in their judgment of correct colour rendering by the many 
incorrect photographs which they see, and so have a tendency 
to underestimate the lightness of tone of such things as grass, 
foliage, etc., which they habitually see rendered too dark. Over¬ 
correction is a fault which it is so unlikely any photographer 
will commit, that he hardly need be cautioned against it. 

The development of orthochromatic plates (other than red- 
sensitive) does not present any particular difficulties. It is 
true that the plates are more sensitive to the red and yellow 
light of the dark room than ordinary plates are, but the in¬ 
creased sensitiveness is not so great as to be an inconvenience 
if reasonable care is taken not to get fog. The dish, of course, 
must be kept covered all the time, except just at the moment 
of observation ; and it is well not to let any of the direct light 
from the lamp fall on the plates while the dark slides are 
being loaded or unloaded. The light itself should be red, not 


296 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


yellow, in colour, and should be one of the “ safe-lights n 
specially made for the purpose, and not merely a piece of 
ruby glass. It has been observed that the action of a de¬ 
veloper which contains sodium sulphite is to desensitize the 
plate for colour to some extent; so that after it has been in 
such a developer for half a minute or more, it is much less 
likely to be fogged than before; and it has even been 
suggested that plates should have a preliminary bath of some 
solution containing sulphurous acid for this purpose. The 
protection is a doubtful one, however, and should not be re¬ 
garded as an excuse for anything less in the way of care 
against unnecessary exposure to the dark-room light, or there 
may be fog. The dye which is added to the emulsion to make 
it orthochromatic gives such plates a very distinct colour before 
development; and the screen dye in screened plates gives a 
further colouration. Most of this is lost in the developing and 
fixing, however, although there is sometimes just a trace of 
colour perceptible in the finished negative. 

Panchromatic plates, being specially sensitive to red, call 
for much more care in the dark room. In fact, they are 
altogether more prone to suffer from fog, although with proper 
precautions the negatives on them can be kept as clean as one 
can wish. Some workers advocate green light for the dark 
room when these plates are used ; but it is much better to face 
the subject boldly, to load and unload the camera in complete 
darkness, and to develop in a light-tight tank, or in a covered 
dish, by the time method pure and simple. This is greatly 
facilitated by the practice of the leading makers of panchro¬ 
matic plates, who enclose in each package a statement of the 
correct times of development at various temperatures, with 
various recommended developers. They usually add to this 
data as to the precise increase of exposure which that par¬ 
ticular emulsion requires, with various standard colour screens. 
The backing on panchromatic plates, since they are sensitive 
to all colours, is generally black; but the usual red-brown 
caramel backing will be found very nearly as efficient. ~ t 

To sum up the requirements of the various classes of work 
in this direction, it may be said that inasmuch as it is not 
possible so far to make orthochromatic plates quite as fast as 
the fastest non-orthochromatics, the latter should be used 


ORTHOCHROMATIC PHOTOGRAPHY 


297 


wherever the very utmost possible speed in daylight is re¬ 
quired. Late in the day when the light is yellow, an ortho- 
chromatic plate may prove to be faster than its rival, as it is 
almost sure to be to the various artificial lights, except to some 
arc and mercury-vapour lamps. For landscape and architec¬ 
tural work generally, ordinary, orthochromatic, and screened 
orthochromatic plates may be used, according to the fancy 
of the worker. For Alpine work, and for views generally in 
which there are great distances, as well as for clouds against 
blue sky, an orthochromatic plate and screen are a necessity 
if the rendering is to be anywhere near correct. For flowers 
in general, the opinion of most experts is in favour of 
orthochromatic plates without a screen, except in special 
cases, such as of deep-red flowers, when a screen may be 
obviously necessary. Most professional portrait plates are not 
orthochromatic; though some of the cleverest portraitists 
recommend orthochromatic plates, but without a screen. 
Amateurs, who have strong reasons for avoiding any necessity 
for retouching, will find one of the self-screened varieties 
very suitable. For copying paintings, photographing polished 
woodwork, and for strongly coloured subjects in general, the 
more nearly one can approach complete colour correction the 
better. For black-and-white work orthochromatic photo¬ 
graphy is clearly not required ; except that when artificial 
light of a more or less yellow tint is used, the extra sensitive¬ 
ness of the orthochromatic plate becomes helpful. 

One other side, a very interesting one, of this subject remains 
to be mentioned. While all the methods just considered have 
had for their aim the securing of a more truthful representa¬ 
tion, there are times when exactly the opposite becomes 
necessary, and then the same methods, duly modified accord¬ 
ingly, can be made to give some very astonishing results. 
For example, let us suppose the case of a document written 
in black ink on white paper, over which some red ink has 
been spilt. On an ordinary plate without any special pre¬ 
cautions at all, the red blot would photograph almost if not 
quite as black as the black ink. A panchromatic plate, 
with a colour screen designed to give correct rendering, would 
show the blot very plainly, but still much lighter in tone than 
the ink. If a deep enough red screen were used, however, it 


298 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


would be possible to photograph the document so that the red 
blot was quite invisible, the paper there .\ppearing just as 
white as elsewhere. This would be a case o\ legitimate over- 
correction. Or we might have to photograoh some type¬ 
writing with corrections in ink of one colour or another ; and 
by a choice of screens one could make three photographs, one 
showing the violet typewriting but none of the corrections, 
one showing the corrections but none of the typewriting, and 
the third showing both as plainly visible in the photograph 
as thev were to the eve. 

0 * 


COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 

Any one with no technical knowledge of photography who 
was asked to define what he meant by a photograph in colours 
would no doubt convey the idea that to him it was a photo¬ 
graph which reproduced automatically not merely the outlines 
and light and shade of the subject but also its colours. Ever 
since there has been photography at all there have been 
investigators who have sought for some sensitive substance 
which should respond to the action of coloured light by itself 
taking on that colour, or, what would come to much the same 
thing in practice, the negative or complementary of that colour. 
Although these investigations occasionally, in early days 
especially, gave results which seemed to be promising, we 
now know that such promises were misleading, and that 
as far as a solution of the problem of colour photography 
on these lines is concerned, we are ;ust as far from it as we 
ever were. There has been no discovery of any kind whatever 
which gives us reason to suppose that such a substance exists 
or could be brought into existence. It may be that it will, 
it may be that we are on the very eve of its production ; all 
that we can say is that there is nothing that is now known 
that makes this more probable than it seemed when photo¬ 
graphy itself was but a new thing. 

Vet every one knows that photography in colours is an 
accomplished fact ; although the popular impression which 
applies the term to the gaudily tinted postcards and views 
that are offered for sale at watering-places and elsewhere is 
as incorrect as popular impressions can be. Such things may 


COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 


299 


be collotypes or similar photomechanical reproductions of 
photographs, printed on card or paper on which colours have 
been printed by lithography, or they may be made by other 
variants of “ process work ” ; but they are no more photographs 
in colours than they would be if the purchaser bought a plain 
print and then himself painted on it. We shall see later on 
that it is quite possible to get photographs in colours by the 
“ three-colour process ” ; but as far as local views are concerned, 
such photographs would be too true to nature, in other words 
not sufficiently garish, to compete with the gorgeous aniline 
sunsets and metallic green foliage of the coloured view. 

Direct colour photography of the kind referred to at the 
commencement of this chapter being at present impossible, it 
remains to see how indirect colour photography has been 
achieved. This is known as “ three-colour photography ” for 
reasons that will be evident in a moment ; but before dealing 
with it, some mention must be made of a method of colour 
photography which is in a sense “direct,” and has no connection 
whatever with three-colour work—we refer to the Lippmann, 
or interference process. 

Professor Gabriel Lippmann, of Paris, a very able and 
original physicist, concluded that if an image were projected 
upon a photographic film in such a way that the light as soon 
as it reached the back surface of that film were reflected back 
on itself, the reflected beam would “interfere” with the direct 
beam, in such a way that the photographic image seen in 
favourable circumstances would show the colours of the 
original ; and on trying the experiment, he found that it was 
so. The prepared glass plate was exposed with its glass side 
to the lens, and was backed up with mercury which acted as 
a mirror, and the result, seen at a certain angle, reproduced 
the colours. Unfortunately the conditions necessary for success 
seem to limit this to a laboratory experiment. It is interesting 
to note that the particular photographic process employed to 
obtain the result is not important; the colour photographs have 
been obtained on silver bromide films in albumen, and in 
gelatine, and also on bichromated gelatine. What is necessary 
is that the sensitive film shall be practically transparent, and 
transparency can only be obtained at the cost of rapidity; 
so that any film clear enough to give a photograph by this 


300 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


process at all is extremely slow, so slow as to be quite out of 
comparison with a plate at all, slow in fact by the standard 
of a piece of P.O.P. Then again the colours are not of the 
nature of pigment colours, which are visible unaltered at any 
angle, but are rather of the nature of iridescence, like the 
colours of a soap-bubble or of a thin film of tar on water 
Interesting as the process is, therefore, and unique, as the 
one direct method of photography in colours, it has not gone 
beyond the stage of an experiment, requiring great care and 
manipulative skill; so that specimens, which are all on glass 
and easily injured, are very scarce. 

All other colour photography is by the three-colour process, 
in one or other of its many modifications ; and to appreciate 
its nature one must realize the nature of colour vision itself- 
The Young-Helmholz theory of colour vision, in outline, is that 
all our consciousness of colour is the result of the excitation 
of one or more of certain colour sensations of which the human 
brain is capable, which sensations are three in number. There 
appear to be three ‘‘somethings' in the eye of every one who 
is not colour blind, and by the extent to which each of these 
is simultaneously stimulated, do we have that form of con¬ 
sciousness which we associate with the word “ colour/’ 
Professor Clerk Maxwell who investigated the subject very 
thoroughly, plotted down the sensitiveness of these three 
somethings to the different rays of the spectrum in the form 
of curves, and showed that the three are respectively most 
sensitive to a particular shade of blue, of green, and of red. 
One might call such shades the three primary colours ; but 
it is better to avoid such a term, as it was extensively mis¬ 
applied before the nature of colour vision was worked out, 
and is likely to lead to confusion. It is better to speak of 
three primary colour sensations. All our perceptions of colour, 
however complex and subtle its character, arise from the way 
in which these sensations are excited. It is to be noted also 
that although, as an optical experiment, it might be possible 
to obtain light of a pure colour, which excited one of these 
sensations onlv, the colours in nature are verv much more 
complex, and it is doubtful if we ever look at any coloured 
object whatever, that does not, to some extent at least, excite 
all three sensations. Our perceptions of colour vary according 


COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 


301 


to the different proportions in which the sensations are excited. 
Thus a yellow object, were it pure yellow, might be exciting 
the red and the green sensations, to the exclusion of the blue- 
violet ; but actually, the yellowest object we are likely to look 
at would to some extent at least be exciting the blue-violet 
also. When all three sensations are excited to a certain 
balanced extent, we get the colour known as white. White 
is just as true a colour as the most pronounced cardinal, or 
mauve, or emerald, it should be remembered ; and, as far as 
we are concerned, is the result of a simultaneous excitation 
of all three sensations in certain proportions. 

Accepting this theory as a working explanation of colour 
vision, it remains to be seen how it can be applied to photo¬ 
graphy. Let us suppose for a moment that only one colour 
reaches the eye, and that on analysing its effects in some way 
or other, we find that it excites the three colour sensations, 
blue, green, and red, in the proportion of 7,4, and 2 respectively. 
Manifestly we can make a record of that colour with a pencil 
and paper, jotting down 7, 4, and 2. At some future date, if 
we get three beams of light exciting the three colour sensations, 
and we cut them down so that their relative intensities are 
7, 4, and 2, and blend them together, their combined effect 
on the eye will be to reproduce the identical colour originally 
seen. Our pencil note of the figures will contain no colour 
itself, but will be a record of the colour by means of which 
it can be reproduced. Instead of making a note by hand in 
this way, we can make a photographic record. For this 
purpose three separate photographs of the object will be 
needed. One must be taken through a colour screen of such 
a kind that it passes such light as excites one of the colour 
sensations, another of a second, and another of the third. As 
was the case with the pencil note, there will be no visible colour 
in the photograph ; it will merely record the extent of the 
colour sensation experienced ; but it may be utilized to repro¬ 
duce the colour. 

Photographs to record colour sensations in this way must 
be taken on panchromatic or red sensitive plates—at least one 
of them must be, as it has to record red rays—and, as a matter 
of fact, in almost all three-colour work now done, the same 
kind of plate is used for all* three records. Often all three are 


302 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


on one plate, as is invariably the case in the “ screen-plate ” 
processes to be referred to later. The colour screens or light 
filters used have to be adjusted with great care, so that their 
record may be a faithful one, and have to be suited to the 
particular plate that is used. There are all sorts of practical 
difficulties in the way of making such a set of records ; but 
in skilful hands they have been overcome, and the production 
and utilization of such negatives is now a daily operation in 
many places. 

Let us suppose that such a set of three negatives has 
been made, and that for the sake of simplicity the subject 
contains some pure yellow light, that is to say one which 
excites the red sensation to a certain extent, the green sensation 
to another extent, but not the blue-violet sensation. In the 
negative which records the blue-violet sensation, the yellow 
object will appear as clear glass, indicating that none of the 
light reflected from the subject was able to pass through the 
blue-violet colour screen, which only transmitted such light as 
would excite the blue-violet sensation in the eye. In the green 
negative, however, there will be a deposit, showing that some 
of the light passed through the green screen, and the same with 
the red, the relative depth of the deposits in these two negatives 
indicating the relative intensity of the excitement of those two 
colour sensations. Now three lantern-slides might be made 
from these negatives, and put into three lanterns, and the three 
images all thrown upon the same sheet, putting in the path of 
the three beams glasses coloured red, green, and blue-violet 
respectively. The negative of the blue-violet, showing the 
yellow object as clear glass, will cause the image of it in the 
lantern-slide to be black. Consequently no blue-violet light 
will reach the screen in that place. On the other hand, the 
green and the red negatives will give lantern-slides in which the 
yellow object is more or less transparent, so that some red and 
some green light will reach the screen there, and the object will 
appear a combination of red and green, that is to say yellow. 
Such lanterns have been made, and very fine projections in 
colour can be given with them. An ingenious instrument, the 
“ Photochromoscope,” was invented by Mr. F. E. Ives, by means 
of which three transparencies backed up by colour screens of a 
suitable character could be seen simultaneously ; this gave a 


COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 


303 


very good and faithful reproduction of the colours of the 
original. 

Both of the cases just mentioned involve the addition of 
lights. That is to say, the yellow object appears yellow because 
we see it by both red and green light, and red and green light 
in due proportion appear as yellow. Most three-colour methods, 
except “screen-plate” methods, involve the mixture of pigments; 
and then quite different considerations arise. One cannot get 
a yellow by mixing a red and a green, paint, any more than 
one could get white by mixing red, green, and blue-violet paint. 
On the contrary, we might expect to get a black instead of a 
white, and the result would justify the expectation. A few 
words should be sufficient to give a clue to the difference. 
Red paint put down on white paper, makes the paper red 
because it stops the passage and reflection to the eye of all 
except red light. Green paint in like manner cuts off all except 
green light. A mixture of red and green paint, therefore, does 
not give rise to the sensation of yellow, because although the 
green paint is allowing green to pass, it is cutting off the red, 
while the red paint which would let red light pass, if the 
green paint did not stop it, is itself stopping the green. The 
result is, if the red and green paints are sufficiently intense, that 
their admixture is a kind of purple-black. Colours in the case 
of pigments, therefore, are seen to be due to subtraction of 
lights, while in the lantern and the Photochromoscope they 
were caused by the addition of lights. The difference can be 
overcome very simply. We have seen that the yellow object 
which we have taken as an example, is recorded by a certain 
gradation in the green and the red negatives but by clear 
glass in the blue-violet. Instead, therefore, of printing in red 
and green pigments, let us suppose that we took yellow pigment 
and made a negative print from the blue-violet negative in a 
yellow ink. This would give us a yellow object. If we made 
a negative print in a pure blue from the red negative, and one 
in pink from the green negative, we should find that by thus 
printing in “ minus colours ” as it has been termed, we can get 
a faithful reproduction of the original. This fact is the basis 
of three-colour work on paper. 

The actual printing can be done in several ways. It is 
possible by a modification of the carbon process to obtain 


304 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


gelatine impressions from the three negatives, which impressions 
can be soaked in suitable dye, which they will absorb, and then 
these three dye images can be transferred to one and the same 
film, so that if all three are carefully superposed the result is a 
colour picture. The pinatype process is of this nature. Thin 
films bearing carbon pictures in the three colours may be 
superposed and bound up together in the form of a lantern- 
slide ; or the three carbon pictures may all be transferred to one 
support. Mr. Sanger Shepherd has produced some very 
beautiful lantern-slides by working on these lines, and has 
designed a camera (there are other such) by which all three 
negatives can be made on one plate with a single exposure. 
The blue picture, which it will be remembered is a negative 
print from the red negative, may also be printed by the blue 
print process, and the other two images may be carbon prints. 
Or one may print from separate half-tone blocks in three 
suitable inks, or collotype may be used in much the same way. 
This method is now extensively used in book illustration ; but 
it is usual to print from a fourth, or “ key ” block, in black, in 
addition to the three impressions in colour. Thus the frontis¬ 
piece of this volume is itself a three-colour photograph of an 
original in colours ; the original being made by oil printing as 
described elsewhere, while the frontispiece is made by taking 
three separate negatives and printing from half-tone blocks in 
suitable inks. 

The greatest development of the three-colour process is in 
the direction known as “ screen-plate ” photography. Professor 
Joly, of Dublin, worked out the first of these methods; but it 
was not until the “ Autochrome” plate was introduced by 
Messrs. Lumiere that the photographic world awoke to the 
wonderful possibilities of such a process. In the “Joly” plate 
a piece of glass was ruled with a series of fine lines of some 
strongly coloured varnish, the lines being respectively violet, 
green, and red. A panchromatic plate was exposed in the 
camera with its film in close contact with the ruled surface of 
the glass, so that all the light coming from the lens had to pass 
through the rulings to get to the plate. The result was that 
instead of making three separate negatives for the three colour 
sensations, the three records were all made on one plate, a kind 
of tricolour sandwich, composed of a series of fine lines. When 


COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 


305 


a transparency was made by contact from such a negative, and 
the transparency was carefully adjusted upon such a ruled 
screen so that the lines of which its image was composed 
exactly registered with the lines of the ruled screen which gave 
rise to them, the transparency was seen to present the colours 
of the original. It had to be viewed from such a distance that 
the lines of which it was built up blended together. The cost 
of ruling such screens, and the difficulties of making them with 
any degree of fineness, caused the Joly process to remain little 
more than an interesting curiosity. 

The “ Autochrome ” plate dealt with the same problem in a 
wonderfully ingenious and successful manner, and for the first 
time made it as easy and simple to produce a transparency in 
correct colours as a black-and-white negative of the ordinary 
kind. Starch is a vegetable product which consists of fine 
grains, the size of the grains varying with the origin of the 
starch. Thus potato starch may be obtained consisting almost 
entirely of particles of one definite size. Three lots of such 
starch grains are dyed violet, green, and red respectively, and 
the strongly coloured powders so obtained are mixed together 
in such proportions that none of the colours predominates, the 
whole mixture having a neutral tint. A sheet of glass being 
coated with some adhesive, this powder is dusted over it, and 
when dry is rolled, to flatten out the starch particles and fill in 
all interstices, and is given a coating of protective varnish. 
This constitutes the “screen-plate” in the Autochrome process, 
and is exactly analogous to the Joly ruled screen : differing 
from it by being made as it were*??/ masse instead of by separate 
ruling, and by having its violet, green,'and red particles scattered 
promiscuously instead of in lines, and being very much finer. 
The flattened starch grains in the Autochrome plate average 
about one two-thousandth of an inch in diameter, which is far 
too small to be seen with the naked eye, although when a number 
of the same colour get together they can be distinguished 
without a magnifying glass. It is not practicable to place a 
panchromatic plate in contact with this screen-plate for exposure, 
and then, making a transparency from the negative so obtained, 
to superpose it on the screen and get the colours. The particles 
of starch are too small to allow of this to be done. Instead, 
therefore, the* screen-plate itself is coated with a panchromatic 
x 


306 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


emulsion, the picture is taken on this, turning the glass side of 
the plate to the lens, and then, after a negative has been 
developed, instead of fixing it, it is converted into a positive 
picture in situ , by a modification of a well-known process, so 
that the picture, never having been moved, all registration 
difficulty is got over at once. Such is the Autochrome process 
in outline. 

This remarkable advance was made public in the summer 
of 1907, when for the first time it became possible to produce 
transparencies in colour by a single series of simple operations, 
the whole production of a finished Autochrome taking less than 


an hour from the time 

of exposure 

of the plate. The ease of 

working and 







the beauty of 
which in fide- 

the results, 







lity of colour- 

G 

V 

G 

V 

G 

V 

rendering far 

surpassed any- 







thing that until 

then had been 

V 

R 

V 

R 

V 

R 

done, aroused 

a widespread 







interest, and 

set many other 
working; but 

G 

V 

G 

V 

G 

V 

experimenters 
for some years 

the Auto- 







chrome was 

without a rival. 

V 

R 

V 

R 

V 

R 

Then a plate 

known as the 







“Thames” plate 

was produced, 

G 

V 

G 

V 

G 

V 

in which, by an 

ingenious utili- 







zation of the 

half-tone pro- 







cess screen a 

glass plate was impre 

ssed 

with 

a 

perfectly regular pattern of 


red and green discs upon a violet background. A few such 
plates appear to have been made coated with emulsion, as 
in the “ Autochrome,” but they were put forward chiefly for 
use with a separate plate, a transparency being made and 
placed down in register upon the screen-plate. This it was 
possible to do on account of the comparative coarseness of the 
image, the diameter of the discs being about one three hundred 
and fortieth of an inch (at least six times linear, or thirty-six 
times the area of the starch grains in the Autochrome). The 
“ Thames ” plate was eventually dropped ; but its transpa¬ 
rency and mechanical perfection were undeniable, and are 
found in the “Paget” screen-plate of the same inventor. In 
this also the glass has a regular pattern of colours on it, 



COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 


307 


in a series of little squares which run in parallel lines, the 
squares being arranged as shown in the diagram on the 
previous page. The Paget Prize Plate Company, which issues 
these plates, together with a special panchromatic plate for use 
with them, supplies two kinds of screen, which, however, do 
not differ to any great extent. One is the “taking” screen, and 
the other the “ viewing ” screen ; their purpose being sufficiently 
described by their title. Other screen-plates with a mechanical 
grain are the “ Omnicolor ” of Messrs. Jougla (no longer manu¬ 
factured), and the “ Dufay.” 

The “Autochrome” plate, in consequence of the extreme 
fineness of the starch particles of which it is composed, is coated 
with an emulsion of a kind which is distinctive. It forms an 
extremely thin layer on the plate, and the reversal of the image 
is easily accomplished. A special colour screen must be used 
on the lens, and it may be pointed out that this screen should 
be protected from light when it is not actually in use, as it is 
not permanent. After developing the plate, for which purpose 
pyro-ammonia or metol-quinol are recommended, it is placed 
direct into a reducer composed of a solution of potassium perman¬ 
ganate acidified with sulphuric acid. This almost immediately 
dissolves away the image just developed, leaving the undeveloped 
silver-bromide, which, now that the developed image has been 
removed, is a positive one. (If instead of this the Autochrome 
when developed is placed in hypo and fixed, we still get a 
picture in colours ; but the colours are the reverse of what they 
were in nature—they are the complementary colours, in fact. 
This forms an interesting and instructive experiment, and 
every user of the Autochrome process should make at least one 
plate of this kind.) The positive image consisting of silver- 
bromide is white in colour and not very intense, but by putting 
it back into the developer it can be blackened, and, after wash¬ 
ing, the Autochrome may be considered as finished. If the 
colours are not strong enough, it may be intensified with pyro 
and silver nitrate ; but this process, although originally advo¬ 
cated for every plate, is now considered as only occasionally 
necessary. It is usual to varnish Autochromes either with a 
solution of gum dammar in benzol, or with a celluloid-acetone 
varnish. A varnish containing alcohol cannot be used. 

The Autochrome process gives us a finished transparency in 


308 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


colours. If we wish to duplicate it, the object may be photo¬ 
graphed again on another plate, or, the Autochrome being fixed 
up and illuminated from behind, it may be copied on to a fresh 
Autochrome plate in much the same way as a lantern-slide is 
made by reduction. It has been said that there is a great fall¬ 
ing off in the brilliancy of the colours when this copying is 
done ; but although there must, theoretically, be some degrada¬ 
tion, it can be kept down by the exercise of reasonable skill in 
exposure and development, so that one should not be able to 
detect a copy by any want of brilliancy. In the case of the 
“ Paget ” plates, since the taking and viewing screens are sepa¬ 
rate, having made a negative through a taking screen, one may 
make just as many positive transparencies from it as may be 
required or as there are viewing screens for use with them. 
Since all the taking and viewing screens are exactly alike in 
the scale of the coloured pattern on them, only one taking 
screen is necessary for any number of pictures. As the plate 
and screen are separate in this process, it becomes important 
to press them up into close contact at the time of exposure. 

The emulsion on the Autochrome plate is highly sensitive; 
but in consequence of the depth of colour in the screen-plate, 
and the special light filter which is an absolute necessity on the 
lens, the exposures are comparatively long, The plates have 
been used in a hand-camera, but it is only in exceptionally favour¬ 
able conditions both of light and of subject, and with a very 
rapid lens (F/3 or F/4), that so short an exposure as the tenth 
or sixteenth of a second is possible with them. To overcome 
this, methods of increasing the sensitiveness of the emulsion 
by bathing it before exposure with certain dye solutions have 
been tried, and found very effective. Special solutions can be 
obtained in which the plates are immersed, whirled to get rid 
of the excess of solution, and then dried in a drying box with 
calcium chloride. The dried plates, in consequence of their 
altered sensitiveness to colour, have to be used with a special 
form of colour screen, and are then about five times as fast as 
before. They retain this extra rapidity for three or four weeks, 
but then gradually lose it again. With the aid of specially 
powerful flash powders, portraits at night are possible on Auto¬ 
chrome plates: but in such cases, also, a special colour screen 
has to be used. 


COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 


309 


The Paget colour plates require less exposure than the 
Autochrome, the relative rapidity being about i to 3, or 4. As 
there seems to be little difference in the tendency to fog in the 
dark room, the shorter exposures required by the “ Paget” are 
presumably to be attributed to the greater transparency of the 
screen-plate, which is decidedly lighter than the Autochrome. 
This difference is seen also when colour transparencies on the 
two plates are seen in the lantern : the Autochromes give a very, 
perfect rendering of the colours, but a more powerful light, or 
what comes to the same thing, a less magnification, is needed 
to give them with equal brightness. 

All these screen-plate processes give as the final result a 
transparency on glass, which the uninitiated will persist in calling 
a “ negative,” although, of course, the result is not a negative at 
all, but a positive. Many have been the attempts to produce 
paper prints from them. The “ Paget ” Company worked out 
an ingenious method of making a transparency on a specially 
thin viewing screen and backing this up with paper with a 
bright metallic reflecting surface. The results looked like paper 
prints under glass ; but there was necessarily a great loss of 
brilliance. The best method up to the present is only available 
when a large number of copies are required, and resolves itself 
into the reproduction of the colour transparency by means of 
three colour half-tone. Some of the “ nature ” books which are 
now illustrated in this way show that a remarkably high degree 
of perfection has been obtained. 

The aim of the inventor is to produce a sensitive paper 
which, placed under a glass transparency in colours, will give a 
colour print, just as a piece of P.O.P. under a negative will give 
a plain print. Although no very high degree of perfection has 
yet been reached in this direction, some very wonderful results, 
considering all the difficulties, have been obtained. Dr. J. H. 
Smith succeeded in preparing a paper, which was on the 
market under the name of “ Uto ” paper. Its coating was of a 
greyish-black colour, and when exposed to light of any colour 
it gradually faded out until it had taken a tint approximating 
to the colour of the light to which it was exposed. Thus, if it 
was placed under an Autochrome to print, the result was a very 
fair reproduction of the stronger tints of the Autochrome. The 
Utocolour Company, which made the paper, supplied certain, 


310 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


solutions for use with it, by which the print could be, in a 
measure, fixed. Exposed continuously to a strong light, such 
prints continue slowly to fade; but if kept in a drawer or port¬ 
folio, and only occasionally taken out into light, they seem to 
be permanent enough. We have some which have been made 
over eighteen months and kept loose in a drawer without 
special precautions of any kind, and are still apparently quite 
unaltered. The paper is no longer obtainable. 

The principle on which this paper was made is one of the 
many modifications of the three-colour process. Whenever work 
of any kind is done in a film by means of light, light is absorbed 
and disappears as such. Thus in a dry plate in the camera, the 
light that actually effects the emulsion and gives rise to the 
developable image is absorbed by the film. It follows that 
such a thing as an absolutely transparent light-sensitive sub¬ 
stance is an impossibility. If it were perfectly transparent 
it would absorb no light, and if no light were absorbed no work 
could be done. When the colour in a dyed object fades out 
on exposure to light, work is done by the light, that is to say 
the dye is bleached. That work is done by the light which 
is absorbed by the dye, and the dye absorbs light of all colours 
except that of its own colour. For instance, a red object is red 
because the dye which colours it absorbs the light of all colours 
except red, so that only red light is left to reach the eye. In 
the same way a green dye absorbs all but the green rays, and 
violet all but the violet. Now let us imagine a film or coating 
on paper stained with violet, green, and red dyes all three 
of which happen to fade very easily, and see what happens 
when such a film is exposed to light. If it is violet light only 
to which it is exposed nothing will happen to the violet dye 
in the film. Violet dye absorbs light of all colours except violet, 
but as the light to which it is exposed is violet there is nothing 
such dye can absorb, so that the violet dye remains unaffected. 
The green dye, however, which absorbs all but green, absorbs 
this violet dye, and work is done in the green dye by the light 
it has absorbed ; in other words, the green dye exposed to 
violet light absorbs it and so fades. In the same way the 
red dye absorbs violet light and fades also ; until, if the action is 
allowed to go on long enough, the green and the red colouration 
are entirely removed from the coating, and the tint of the paper 


COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 


311 


becomes that of the only dye which the violet light has not 
affected, namely violet itself. So that such a paper in violet light 
becomes violet. In the same way in green light it bleaches to 
green, and in red light to red. Exposed to mixtures of colours 
it bleaches proportionally. All that has then to be done is to 
apply some bath by which, when the bleaching has gone far 
enough, the colours remaining can be made permanent, and we 
have a process by which a sensitive paper can be made which 
under a colour transparency will give a picture in colours. This 
was the principle underlying “ Uto ” paper. 

In writing of this paper, we have said that the colours are not 
very intense or very true ; but we are very far from having any 
intention of depreciating the paper. When the difficulties of 
finding three dyes of the right colours, which can all be made to 
fade rapidly, and not only that but at practically the same rate, 
and which can have that fading checked or altogether prevented 
when the right stage has been reached, are realized, it seems so 
impossible a task that it is wonderful that so much has been 
done as has already been accomplished. 

Colour*photography it will be seen has made rapid advances. 
Since the first edition of this book was published in 1906, 
everything referred to in this chapter of a later date than the 
Joly process has been introduced. It remains to be seen to 
what further advances these developments will lead. That they 
must have a powerful effect in some way or other is inevitable. 


CHAPTER XX 


DODGING AND “FAKING” 

Selective focussing—Physical reduction-—Baskett’s reducer—The use of matt varnish 
—Work on the negative—Sensational effects—Printing in clouds—Work on 
enlarged negatives—The use of a guide print—A printing board—Spotting— 
Sunning down—Softening definition—Modifications when enlarging—Combina¬ 
tion printing—Retouching—Vignetting by reduction—Guide prints—The misuse 
of dodging. 

r T^HE enthusiasm of the photographer who has managed to 
X acquire sufficient mastery over negative making and 
printing to attempt to use them to make pictures, finds itself 
suddenly damped down by the limitations of the camera. That 
beautiful rolling moorland, broken by the play of light on the 
heather, and those immense masses of cumulus, are an un¬ 
interrupted grey patch in the print, uninteresting in itself and 
crowned by an even less interesting white expanse to represent 
the sky. The quaint old gables and chimneys of the Tudoi 
mansion are delightful to the eye which can take them in and 
ignore the iron railing which divides the park from the lawns ; 
but the uncompromising camera deals out impartial emphasis 
to Elizabethan walls and Victorian railing alike. The paintei 
may show us a landscape with every plane subtly distinguished 
by the increasing veil of sunlit air through which we see it, but 
the photographer can only do likewise, by pure photography, 
when the photograph happens to be taken at a time when 
Nature has exaggerated her effect and so forced it upon the 
notice of the dry plate. For a little while in the career of most 
photographers, especially with those whose aims are to put their 
cameras to picture-making purposes, there is a feeling of 
disappointment, and sometimes almost of despair, when they 
begin to learn of the limitations of the process by practical 
experience. 

3 12 


DODGING AND “FAKING” 


313 


There is no reason to despair. Far from it The photo¬ 
grapher who has learned to make good negatives, and good 
straightforward prints from them, has only mastered the ABC 
of his art. The hardest to learn, and the dullest lesson, no 
doubt, because everything beyond is brightened by the possi¬ 
bilities which unfold—possibilities no longer limited by the 
absolute literal truthfulness to outline, nor by the almost 
invariable untruthfulness to tone of the photograph. Both 
can be overcome, and the final result can be made as individual 
and personal as a painting or an etching. 

Many photographers will ask why we should interfere with 
the product of the straightforward use of the camera at all, but 
the reply to such a question will be found in the chapter on 
pictorial work, and in the mind of the photographer himself. 
If he is content with what his camera gives him, let him stop 
at that, and look upon what we are now going to consider as 
not meant for him at all. 

The first departure from the most purely mechanical em¬ 
ployment of photography lies in what is termed differential 
or selective focussing. Half the changes which we want to 
bring about in our photographs are due to the uncompromising 
character of the purely photographic rendering, which gives im¬ 
portant and unimportant details with equal impressiveness and 
force, and one of the methods by which this is remedied is by 
focussing sharply on the principal object in the picture, and 
letting the parts on which we wish to put less emphasis be 
blurred or indistinct. If it could always be done, it would be 
a most powerful weapon in the photographers armoury ; but, 
unfortunately, it is very rarely possible to use this as we would. 

No local control whatever should be attempted during the 
development of the negative. So sweeping an assertion is not 
based on theoretical or dogmatic grounds, but simply on the 
facts that the development is done in an extremely poor light 
for seeing anything; it is done under circumstances which 
make it quite impossible for the photographer to gauge the 
extent and nature of the alterations he is effecting, and the 
changes he may bring about, good or bad, are irrevocable 
His aim, therefore, should be to produce a negative which, 
while not embodying any changes due to the photographer, 
is of such a character as to lend itself to after treatment. Such 


314 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


a negative must be one which is not on any account over¬ 
developed, or there will be difficulty in dealing with it, because 
the easiest methods are by adding to its densities locally 
rather than by reducing them. 

Chemical methods of intensification or reduction are only 
satisfactory when applied uniformly to the whole negative. If 
the plate has certain parts which may with advantage print a 
little lighter, it is sometimes possible to effect this easily by 
rubbing down. A little plug of cotton wool, or a fine handker¬ 
chief, may be stretched over the finger, and this being moistened 
with methylated spirit, and squeezed almost dry, will be found 
to rub away the image gradually. If too much spirit is used, 
the rubber will not bite; if too little, it will endanger the film. 
It is quite easy to determine the right degree of moisture, and 
to control the action. The rubbing should be done with as 
varied a motion as possible, to avoid lines or streaks, and as the 
rubber blackens with the silver removed from the negative it 
may be changed. The action is much quicker if, instead of 
rubbing with plain spirit, the Baskett reducer is used. This is 
made by mixing 2 ozs. of terebene, and 2 ozs. of salad oil with 
the contents of a twopenny tin of “ Globe polish.” The mixture 
is well stirred up and strained through two or three thicknesses 
of fine cambric, to remove any coarse particles, and will be 
found a wonderfully effective reducer. After reducing the 
film, the negative must be wiped as clean as possible, and 
given a rub over with a piece of cotton wool moistened with 
benzine to remove any remaining traces of the mixture. 

But the most frequently used means of “dodging” or 
“faking” are additive, as they are not only more easily applied, 
but can be modified, removed, and reapplied as often as we 
like, without affecting the negative permanently in any way, 
which is a very great advantage. We may cover the glass 
side of the plate with matt varnish, which gives it a sort of 
ground-glass appearance. The varnish is applied by pouring 
a pool into the centre of the plate, tilting it so that it flows 
into each corner in succession, and then tipping the surplus 
varnish off, and standing up the negative to dry. If there 
are any parts of the negative which would be all the better 
for lightening a little, we can do this very simply by scratching 
off the varnish opposite to them with a knife. If the varnish 


DODGING AND “ FAKING * 


315 


is plain matt varnish, this will make a distinct difference ; but 
if a trace of a yellow dye has been added to it to tint it, the 
difference will be very much more marked. This may be done 
when it is necessary, but the plain varnish is to be preferred 
as far as possible, as it is more controllable. 

The rough surface provided by the varnish will be found 
to take the pencil very readily. We can make lighter any 
shadows in the print which are too dark, by cross-hatching 
with a soft pencil on the varnish, or we can apply lead to it 
with a stump. In this way, and by removing the varnish in 
parts, great modifications can be introduced into the print 
which the negative will yield. 

Another plan, which is perhaps preferable to the varnish, 
is to stretch papier mineral on the glass side of the negative. 
This is a very fine, textureless paper, which can be obtained 
from the better class of photographic dealers for a few pence 
per sheet. A piece is cut the size of the negative, immersed 
in clean water in a dish, and then placed for a moment between 
blotters to take off the surface moisture. With a small brush, 
or with one of the sponge-tipped gum-bottles now so common, 
a narrow edging of gum is given to the glass side of the 
negative, which is then laid down on the damp papier mineral, 
and picked up, bringing the paper with it. The edges may 
be gently pressed into contact, but there is no need to attempt 
to get the paper quite flat. If it is stood up for a few minutes 
it will dry, and on drying will be found to be stretched quite 
smooth and creaseless. With a sharp knife we can then cut 
away such parts of the paper as we wish, and we shall find 
that its removal makes a greater difference than the removal 
of colourless matt varnish. As it is not always possible to cut 
away what we want without interfering with the rest, we can 
get a similar effect by painting the paper, where we wish to 
make it more transparent, with a mixture of one part of Canada 
balsam and six parts of turpentine. We may also work on the 
paper with stump and pencil, or tint parts of it with water 
colour to make them print lighter. In using a pencil on the 
papier mineral , we must be careful not to be too violent, as 
the paper is very easily torn, and a tear may mean that all the 
labour we have put on it is wasted, and that we must clean off 
the paper and start afresh. Negatives that have been treated 


316 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


with the paper must be stored very carefully also, or the paper 
will get injured. 

Considerable modification can be carried out in this way. 
Such work is least likely to fail if it is used, not so much for 
the introduction of sensational effects, as for the concentration 
of the interest on some feature that is already in the negative. 
It is surprising how much can be done in this way to improve 
upon the plain photograph, without at the same time depriving 
it of its photographic character, or leaving in the final print 
any suggestion of the interference of the photographer with 
another method. By going over all the most distant parts 
with stump or crayon, they can be lightened in tone until 
they suggest their distance far more faithfully than is usually 
possible with the plain, undoctored photograph. Patches which 
are broken up too much with scattered lights and shadows can 
have the most intrusive lights toned down by the balsam treat¬ 
ment, and the deepest shadows strengthened with pencil touches, 
and in this way we can give that emphasis to the centre of 
interest which we desire. 

The process is one which is easily abused, as our exhibitions 
are constantly showing. Pictures are to be seen in which the 
photographer has got a dull, flat negative, and by the insertion 
of high lights and deep shadows—where by no possibility they 
could be found with any natural illumination whatever—has 
obtained a theatrical and stagey effect, which may catch the 
untrained eye, and, to those who are not accustomed to study 
pictures, may seem for the moment very successful. But such 
pictures, as soon as the trick is seen through, cease to appeal 
to the spectator. They are the laughing-stock of the painter, 
and are only examples of what to avoid. We must remember 
that when we enter upon this ground, where painters have long 
been in possession, the knowledge which is indispensable to 
the painter is equally so to the photographer. The latter may 
not need the manual dexterity of the user of the brush, but 
he must at least have his feeling for the beautiful, his know¬ 
ledge of composition, of values, of chiaroscuro, of those things, 
in fact, which every painter studies at the time he is acquiring 
his technique, but which it is safe to say no photographer thinks 
of when he is learning how to expose and develop. 

The method of working upon a negative which has just been 



BY F. J. MORTIMER 




DODGING AND “FAKING” 


317 

described entails printing in a very diffused light if the hand¬ 
work is not to be apparent. In a strong light we shall re¬ 
produce in a print all the lines of which the cross-hatching 
is built up, and where the pencil and brush marks have a 
distinct edge this will be visible. By printing in a diffused 
light these edges and lines disappear, and the final result need 
not suggest the methods by which it has been attained. Nega¬ 
tives which have been treated in this way can only be used 
for contact printing, as when an attempt is made to enlarge 
from them the lens of the enlarging arrangement shows up 
the handwork. Other methods are therefore used when 
enlarged work is being done. 

The modification that is most often carried out in contact 
printing is the printing in of clouds, an operation which calls 
for a good deal of skill if it is to be done properly. The 
landscape negative, it is very likely, is not dense enough in its 
sky portion for this to print out quite white. It may therefore 
be strengthened with matt varnish or paper and blacklead. 
If clouds are only to be slightly indicated, many workers can 
do this with a stump on the glass side of the negative. The 
method which some adopt, of making a silver print, cutting 
out the sky portion as accurately as possible with knife or 
scissors, allowing it to darken, and fastening it to the glass 
side to strengthen the sky, is one which generally results in the 
making of a harsh line on the print, however careful the worker. 
Blocking out the sky by painting on the film of the negative 
with Indian ink, or other opaque pigment, is equally objection¬ 
able. Such methods reveal themselves at once, by the different 
character of the definition along a line made with a brush and 
black paint, from that which has been given by the lens itself, 
and are all inferior in their results to the strengthening 
obtained by the use of a stump on paper or matt varnish. 
This can often be helped by shading with a black cloth during 
printing. The landscape portion of the silver print from which 
the sky mask was cut away may be used as a mask to protect 
the print while printing in the clouds ; but, as a rule, it is 
easier to do this with a black cloth, as it minimizes the risk 
of a hard line showing on the print. All such combination 
printing, however, is crude, and in most cases unsatisfactory. 
It is preferable, whenever possible, to secure the clouds on 


318 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the same plate, which is easily done with an orthochromatic 
plate and a suitable screen. Such a method is a guarantee 
against false lighting, and such mistakes as have been seen 
at our exhibitions before now, when the landscape has very 
evidently been lit with the sun on one side and the clouds 
with it on the other. 

The great opportunity for dodging a result comes when the 
original negative is to be made the basis of an enlarged one, 
because whereas by working with a pencil or stump, which is 
much the easiest way of modifying a negative, we can only 
cause it to print lighter in those parts to which we apply the 
blacklead, by working first on the transparency in the same 
way, we can darken portions which we wish to make darker, 
and then, working on the enlarged negative, we can lighten 
other parts by the same process. There is also a great 
advantage in working on a transparency that we are dealing 
with a positive and not a negative, and are therefore in a position 
to gauge the exact effect of every alteration we make. The 
transparency in such a case is best made the full size of the 
enlarged negative. It may then be covered with papier mineral , 
or tracing paper, or even tissue paper can be used ; and work 
on this is done by applying lead or weak washes of Indian ink 
to those parts which are to be darker in the final print. Figures 
or objects which are not wanted can be got rid of with surpris¬ 
ing ease in this process by using a little care. To do this we 
reduce any lights on the figures, as nearly as we can, to the 
same depth as the surrounding parts, ignoring those parts of 
the intruding object which are darker than their surroundings. 
Then, when the contact negative is made from this transparency, 
we can cover it with paper, and deal with the darker parts, 
which are now lighter than their surroundings, and are toned 
down accordingly. When this has been done we shall find 
that, without calling for any excessive degree of manual 
dexterity, the object which we wished to remove has vanished. 

The two prints which face this page form an excellent 
example of the extent to which this treatment may be carried 
when there is any occasion for it. They are by Mr. C. J. 
Harrison, who writes of them as follows :— , 

“ The original negative was not one of my own, but 1 am 
Hot sure that the offending branches might not have been 




TWO PRINTS FROM THE SAME NEGATIVE 

BY C. J. 


HARRISON 





















DODGING AND “ FAKING " 


319 

removed or avoided during exposure. However, they were not 
avoided, as the print shows, and it fell to my lot to make the 
best of this negative. The lower print shows how far I suc¬ 
ceeded. Here all the dark branches that fell across the light 
brickwork were removed with pencil and brushwork on the 
film side of the negative, making no particular attempts to 
indicate the bricks, merely getting the retouched portions near 
the same density, and only trying to introduce the more 
striking marking, for a brick or so misplaced would hardly be 
likely to be noticed. The branches which cross the sky part 
were blocked out solid, as the sky was perfectly opaque. Then, 
as the finished prints were to be done on bromide paper, I did 
not trouble to rub down the light branches on the right, but 
touched them out of the print itself with Indian ink. Only 
a very close examination would show that these intervening 
branches had ever existed.” 

Whenever a transparency is to be worked up, it will be 
found a great help to take a plain print and sketch on this 
with crayon until approximately the effect desired is secured, 
and then to reproduce as far as possible the same effect on the 
transparency. Some workers employ a more rigid support for 
their handwork than paper. A sheet of matt celluloid may be 
used. Mr. Harrison uses thin transparent sheets of gelatine, 
and these, being cut to the size of the negative or transparency, 
may be attached to it with gummed paper, or even registered 
to it without. 

For printing in large sizes for exhibition and similar pur¬ 
poses, we can dispense entirely with a printing-frame, and use 
a drawing-board instead. This allows us much more freedom. 
The paper, whatever it is, may be of a larger size than the 
negative, and fastened to the board with four drawing-pins. 
Then, if we arrange the negative in position on it, we can insert 
two pins along one long edge of the negative as far apart as 
convenient, and one pin in the centre of an edge at right angles 
to the first. Then, if the negative is always pushed up to these 
three pointsj-vhen printing, it should always be in exactly the 
same place. 4 The writer uses fine needles for this purpose, 
which are pushed into the board with a small pair of pliers. 
In this way the negative can be removed and the entire print 


320 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


looked at, and the negative replaced in exactly the same 
position, provided it is pushed up to all three needles. If the 
paper is fastened to the board in this way, it is quite possible 
that the weight of the negative itself will be sufficient to keep 
it in contact; but if not, a piece of plate glass may be laid on 
the top of it, or a drawing-pin or two used to keep it pressed 
down. If drawing-pins are employed, we must see that they 
do not pull the negative away from the guide-pins. If plate 
glass is used, these pins must be below the top surface of the 
negative, or the plate glass must be pushed up to them as well 
as the negative. These and other points will suggest them¬ 
selves to the user of a drawing-board instead of a printing- 
frame. 

When three needles or guide points are thus arranged, it is 
possible to make a series of masks or patterns, by working on 
ground-glass sheets, and to bring these up to register as often 
as required, so that a print can be continuously modified while 
it is being made. Thus we can print it a little, interpose a 
mask to prevent the sky, let us say, from printing, while the 
rest is carried deeper. We can then take the mask away and 
print the whole negative a little more, or inset a fresh mask. 
After each of such alterations we can take away negative and 
masks, certain of replacing them in exact register, and look 
at the entire print and see how we are progressing. 

Amongst the minor devices, which may well be considered 
at this point, are spotting and sunning down. However careful 
a photographer may be, he will occasionally get negatives 
which have some slight defects, either in the form of trans¬ 
parent or of opaque spots. To prevent these from showing in 
the prints, the negative must be “ spotted.” This is done with 
a fine brush and a little opaque water colour. Indian ink does 
very well, but special colours are supplied for the purpose. It 
is a mistake to have the brush too fine; if it is a good one it 
will come to a point, which will allow very difficult work to be 
done, even if the brush itself is comparatively large. A very 
little of the paint should be used, the most important condition 
being that the brush is almost dry. Assuring ourselves of this 
by trial on a piece of white paper, each transparent spot is just 
touched with the tip of the brush, so as to make it print out 
white. When the print is made, a little colour is mixed up, so 



I’ORCH, BERGAMO CATHEDRAL 


BY ERNEST .MARRIAGE 



































DODGING AND “FAKING” 


321 


as to match its tone, and then this is used very dilute, and 
again with a brush that is almost dry, to touch out the spots. 
It is quite surprising to those who have never tried it before to 
find the ease with which the most disconcerting spots can be 
taken out. But the brush must always be in such a condition 
that it will only make five or six spots before it becomes too 
dry to mark the print at all. As a rule, it is not possible to 
get the colour dilute enough by rubbing the brush on the pig¬ 
ment ; but a little being obtained in this way, a drop of water 
is put on a piece of paper, and the brush is worked up with 
that until it is seen just to tint the paper sufficiently for 
use. 

Sunning down is a method not used as much as it might be. 
If we take a print just as it comes from the printing-frame, and 
expose it all over for a very short time to the light, we shall 
find, of course, that the highest lights will discolour more 
noticeably than the shadows, and that (die result will be a print 
that is not so hard as it was before. If the sunning down is 
carried too far, the print will seem degraded and unpleasant’; 
but there is no need to go as far as this. Moreover, if we will, 
we can localize the sunning down. A piece of tracing paper 
may be stretched on a sheet of glass, or a piece of ground 
glass may be used, if preferred ; and putting this on the print 
in a light which has no effect on the sensitive paper, we can go 
over the outlines in pencil, and then apply blacklead or other 
medium to those parts which we do not wish to sun down, 
leaving the rest clear. The glass being held in position on the 
print, it is exposed to daylight until the necessary action has 
taken place. In spite of its name, sunning down is not a 
practice to be carried on in the sun, but in a diffused light, so 
that it may be well under control. 

If the negative is one in which the definition is too keen 
throughout, there are various ways in which it can be softened. 
Very large negatives may be printed through the glass, or if 
the reversal which this brings about is objectionable, a thick 
piece of glass may be interposed between the film and the 
paper, A stout sheet of matt celluloid is more useful for this 
purpose, as the diffusion obtained with it is not so marked, but 
is often quite sufficient. A sheet or two of tracing cloth or of 
bolting silk may sometimes be used to advantage for a similar 

Y 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


522 

purpose but the commonest method of getting rid of wiry 
definition is by the use of a rougher printing surface. 

When enlarging direct on to bromide paper, there is not so 
much opportunity to modify the result as when enlarged nega¬ 
tives are to be printed by contact; but a great deal is possible, 
nevertheless. The use of a lantern for the purpose allows the 
photographer to intervene between the lens and the bromide 
paper. In this way, by the use of a card, he can shade parts of 
his subject, while letting the rest have further exposure. A 
sheet of glass, with a piece of card stuck in the middle of it, 
may be used if the part to be shielded is surrounded by parts 
which are to be exposed, or the card may be fastened to the 
end of a wire. Whatever screening is attempted, the screen 
should be kept moving all the time to avoid harsh lines. 

Focussing when enlarging allows of a certain alteration 
being brought about, if the original is too hard ; but “ bolting 
cloth,” or “ bolting silk ” as it is sometimes called, is still more 
convenient. This is a very fine fabric of regular texture, 
which can be obtained from the Kodak Company, to whom we 
owe its use in photography. It is best to stretch it on a piece 
of glass, or on a wooden frame, for use. If the bolting cloth is 
placed on the surface of the bromide paper during exposure, it 
will break up the image into little dots, almost like a half-tone 
picture, such as most of the illustrations in this book will be 
seen to be on close examination. Such an arrangement has 
its use in making the blackest parts of the enlargement less 
black, while the highest lights are hardly affected. It does not 
make much difference to the definition, but softens contrasts a 
little. But if the bolting cloth is slightly separated from the 
surface of the paper, it not only softens contrasts somewhat, but 
also softens the definition to an extent which depends upon its 
distance from the paper. Within certain limits, it may be said 
that the further off it is, the more blurry is the definition, until 
we reach a point where its effect begins to fall off again. If 
we move it still further away, it has no effect on the definition 
at all. Bolting cloth calls for a distinct increase in the exposure 
that must be given to the paper—generally from 25 to 50 per 
cent., but this depends on its distance from the paper. The 
easiest way of regulating the distance is to have a few pieces 
of glass of different thicknesses, and to interpose one or other 


DODGING AND “ FAKING " 


323 


of these between the bolting cloth and the bromide paper. 
The latter must be perfectly flat upon the easel, or it will not 
be equidistant from the cloth all over, and the definition will 
vary accordingly. 

There are other methods of bringing about alterations 
during enlarging, only one of which need be mentioned here. 
If we have a negative which will give an excellent enlargement 
in every respect but one, viz. that it is a little too harsh in its 
contrasts, it is often possible to soften it by giving nearly all 
the exposure necessary, and then holding a piece of card in 
front of the bromide paper. The front of the lens of the 
enlarger is then breathed on, and the disappearance of the 
moisture caused by the breath is watched on the card. When 
it has nearly (but not quite) gone, the last few seconds of the 
exposure are given, with the result that the enlargement is 
distinctly softer in its contrasts, without being blurred in 
definition. 

Combination printing from two or more negatives is not 
difficult to any one who is able to apply to it the methods 
which are now being dealt with. It is easiest perhaps with 
the lantern, enlarging on bromide paper. To do this an 
enlargement is made from one of the negatives, shading with 
card those parts which are not required. The enlargement is 
then developed and washed, but not fixed : is blotted off with 
clean blotting paper until quite surface dry, and is then again 
put on the easel. The parts already developed are masked 
with black paper, any fine edges being protected by painting 
them over on the wet enlargement with photopake, and a 
second exposure is given. The photopake is then washed off, 
and the paper again developed. If the first exposure was 
correct, and the paper developed right out, the second develop¬ 
ment will have little or no effect upon it. Mr. Baskett has 
described a somewhat similar plan by which clouds can be 
printed in and other combination work carried out. The 
developed print is fastened on the easel with glycerine, 
and the clouds are developed up during the exposure by 
applying developer mixed with glycerine to those parts which 
need it. 

Another form taken by combination printing is the pre¬ 
paration of an enlarged negative, which embodies parts of two 


324 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


or more, and from which combination prints can be taken by 
straightforward printing. This is a method often used for the 
introduction of clouds into an enlarged negative. Having 
made an enlarged transparency of the landscape portion, the 
sky of which is practically clear glass, any light parts elsewhere 
on the transparency are painted over on the glass side with 
opaque water colour. Then, after focussing the cloud negative 
on the enlarging easel, the plate on which it is to be enlarged 
has the landscape transparency placed on it film to film, and, 
using the transparency as a mask, the exposure is made and 
the enlarged transparency of the cloud is developed. Land¬ 
scape and cloud transparencies when finished are bound up 
carefully together in register, the glass side of each is cleaned, 
and a negative is made from them either with further enlarge¬ 
ment or same size in the camera. Other combinations can be 

carried out in the same way. 

* 

Little has been said about the process known as “ retouch¬ 
ing,” because it is hardly an amateur’s method, since it is 
occasioned more from the desire of the sitter to obtain a 
smooth and flattering portrait than from any recognition of its 
photographic necessity by the photographer. It is certainly 
best left alone, at least so far as the form in which it is usually 
known is concerned ; but there are times when a little hand¬ 
work of such a kind will save a lot of after trouble with the 
prints. The first necessity is the application of something 
which shall give a tooth for the pencil. A special kind of 
varnish is sold for the purpose, known as retouching medium, 
A drop of this is applied by the finger to the part of the 
negative, on the gelatine side, which is to be retouched, and 
rubbed over until it feels “ tacky,” when it is put aside to dry. 
In the meantime some arrangement must be fixed up by 
which the negative can be supported at a convenient angle 
with the light behind it. A large printing-frame, with a piece 
of glass in it, will often serve, and on the glass may be put 
a piece of card to support the negative on its top edge. A 
good quality H pencil is the best to use, and this should be 
most carefully sharpened to a very long fine point. The tip 
should be an inch or more from the commencement of the 
taper. Fine emery paper is useful to give the last touch to the 
lead point. When the medium has become sufficiently dry, 






VIGNETTE 


BY K. WILD 




DODGING AND “FAKING” 325 

we may place the negative on its support, and then proceed 
to work upon it. 

I he method of retouching must be left to the taste of the 
worker. The easiest plan the writer has always found is to 
make short, fine lines side by side. In fact, it resolves itself 
into delicate, but not “niggly” shading. There should be no 
attempt to get a lot of lead on in any one place by using a soft 
pencil or exerting any pressure, as this will result either in 
removing the medium or in breaking the point. Stippling a 
series of dots will often serve, while Mr. Harrison, who has been 
already quoted in this chapter, advocates working with a fine 
circular movement of the pencil, taking it off as little as possible, 
making a continual series of minute rings, keeping the pencil 
on the negative and always on the move, running lightly from 
one little defect to another, filling in thin places, blending all 
the harsh lights and darks, until the effect desired has been 
obtained. It is a good plan to start retouching by taking a 
negative of, say, some foliage which is a little inclined to 
appear spotty, and endeavouring, by the use of the pencil, to 
make the more transparent parts of the negative print lighter, 
so that the spottiness is less pronounced. Not only is it 
excellent practice, but such an application of retouching is 
more likely to be useful to the amateur photographer than is 
its employment in portraiture, which calls for other skill and 
knowledge than the mere ability to darken a light patch to the 
depth of its surroundings. 

The vignette by Mr. H. Wild, which faces this page, has 
been obtained by a process which allows of the very easy 
removal of those parts of the picture which are not required, 
when that picture is on bromide or gaslight paper. Here also 
it is well to make a guide print first, and to try the effect of 
different alterations upon it with chalk, before actually setting 
to work on the final print. When the effect that is wanted has 
been obtained on the guide print, we may keep this before us 
while we modify the final picture. The method consists of the 
application of a reducer, which is made by mixing one part of 
a saturated solution of iodine in alcohol with two parts of a 
saturated solution of potassium cyanide (extremely poisonous) 
in water, and diluting this with water to suit the particular 
purpose in hand. “ Some cotton-wool,” says Mr. Wild, describing 


826 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


his method, u a sheet of glass rather larger than any print 
to be treated, some small camel-hair brushes in quills (as 
cheap as they can be got, as they do not last long), and, if 
running water be available, a large dish of water in the sink— 
if not, two large dishes on the bench, with the water frequently 
changed will do—and three or four small saucers such as are 
used by architects for mixing water-colours, complete the 
equipment. 

“ In two of these saucers about three drops of iodine solution 
and six drops of cyanide are put. To one we add about half a 
drachm of water, and to the other about a drachm to a drachm 
and a half. The chalked print is pinned up where it can be 
seen, and, placing the dry print to be treated on the glass, a 
brush is dipped in the stronger solution, and all that is not 
required is roughly wiped out. It must not be taken out too 
closely, as at this stage a hard line will be left, which must 
subsequently be softened, so enough should be left to work 
upon. All parts that are to be taken out cleanly, such as 
chimneys on a house, boughs of a tree, or any other parts that 
are to be cleared away altogether, should be done at this stage, 
before the print is wetted. 

" Having done this, the print should be rinsed well (for 
preference under the tap) at the same time lightly wiping the 
surface with a wad of wet cotton-wool. This should be left in 
one of the dishes of water just at hand, as it is wanted frequently, 
and sometimes in a great hurry. The wool is squeezed as dry 
as possible, and the surface moisture wiped off the print as it 
lies on the glass. We now proceed to soften and break up the 
hard edges, and to shade off where required. I find the best 
way to do this is as follows : the wool, full of water, is put on 
one corner of the glass, where it can be seized in a moment. 
A brush is dipped in the weaker solution, and wiped over the 
darker edges, and the solution so applied almost immediately 
wiped off with the wet wool. The wool is squeezed out, taking 
off surface moisture, and, if necessary, I go over it again, and 
continue this until I get the effect wanted. For the lighter 
parts it is advisable to weaken the solution still more. The 
weaker the solution the easier it is to get delicate gradations. 
When we have nearly finished, we shall probably find that some 
little dark bits, not noticeable before, will now look as if they 


DODGING AND “ FAKING ” 


327 


should be reduced in strength, or removed altogether. The 
print is rinsed, the surface wiped, and blotted with clean blotting 
paper. Then, with a small brush, or, for very small spots, a 
match sharpened to a point, we can take up a very little of the 
stronger solution and carefully paint over the parts to be treated. 
Only one bit is attempted at a time, and the wet wool is kept 
ready to wipe off with, w'hile the effect is still a little darker 
than is w r anted finally. A good washing completes the pro¬ 
cess, and it will be seen that the purely technical part is reason¬ 
ably simple.” 

A method of obtaining very similar results on platinum 
prints by the use of glycerine was dealt with in Chapter XV. 
The guide print, upon the usefulness of which Mr. Wild lays 
stress, is even more valuable in this case, because of the fact 
that we are working from white to black, and not vice versd ; it 
is, therefore, very helpful to know exactly what it is we want 
to bring out in each part. There is no satisfactory method of 
reducing the platinum of the platinotype print in the same way 
that the iodine and cyanide solution will reduce a bromide 
print. Other reducers, moreover, are not applicable to a 
bromide print for the same purpose, because in removing the 
parts which are not wanted they give rise to a distinct change 
of colour on the vignetted edges. 

In leaving the subject of “dodging” or “ faking,” let us add 
a word of caution about its misuse. There is nothing to which 
the purist can take exception in any of the processes employed 
to alter the strictly photographic result, provided always that 
the purist is not able to detect that they have been employed. 
If their use is apparent, then it is to be deprecated, not because 
it is not pure photography, whatever that may be, but because 
the art of the photographer has not been successful in conceal¬ 
ing his art. Few indeed are the photographs that cannot be 
improved by judicious handling, but when that handling 
asserts itself as handling, it is no longer an improvement. 


CHAPTER XXI 


LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY 

Pure landscape characteristically British—Size of camera—The lens —Films and 
plates—A view meter—Exposure meters—What not to take—The disappoint¬ 
ment of panoramic views—Where to find subjects—Woodland scenes and tree 
studies—The fashion in subjects—Shipping and marine—Wave studies—The 
rendering of movement—The hilly road—Snow and frost pictures. 

W HAT finer amusement can be desired by the lover of 
nature, with all the British fondness for fresh air and 
outdoor life, than to wander through the fields and woods, 
drinking in their charms of sight and sound and smell, with 
just that pretext for his stroll afforded by the camera. The 
fisherman claims that his sport brings him closer into contact 
with Nature than can be got by any other means whatever; 
but the landscape photographer may fairly challenge com¬ 
parison with him. Whether he go abroad in the fresh summer 
morning, before the mists have cleared in the valleys and the 
flowers of the day have opened, or whether his shadow stretches 
far behind him as he turns to watch the glorious colouring of 
the setting sun, he is in touch with Nature, can note and study 
all her changing moods, and can endeavour to get, and may 
often succeed in getting, pictures which will recall to him, and 
perhaps to others, some of the delights he experienced in the 
making of them. 

No class of subject, therefore, appeals to the amateur photo¬ 
grapher in this country like landscape, and, to judge from the 
exhibitions, landscape without figures. This last is the result 
of the difficulty of introducing figures which shall seem spon¬ 
taneous and natural—figures picturesquely clad, and at the 
same time free from any suggestion of the theatrical “ country¬ 
man or milkmaid.” The pure landscape—such as Mr. Job’s 
"On the Arun,” or Mrs. Dumas’ "St. Martin’s Summer,” to 

328 


829 


LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY 

name only two examples—is the most characteristic product 
of British pictorial photography; and to obtain pictures of this 
type is the whole circuit and extent of the ambition of many a 
photographer. 

The technicalities of the production of a good photograph 
of an outdoor subject are comparatively simple. Most of such 
work lies within the range of the user of a hand-camera, 
although, if he is wise, he will provide himself with a light 
tripod, as a support of some kind allows more careful selection 
and arrangement of nearly every subject, while under trees and 
in woods the exposure will often make it not a convenience 
but a necessity. “ What should be the size of a camera for 
landscape work?” is not an unusual question. The reply has 
to be guarded. What weight of apparatus is the photographer 
willing to carry about the country ? Two of the author’s friends 
used to tramp the fields together, carrying respectively a 
12 X io and a 15 X 12 outfit, each with one double slide, gene¬ 
rally containing films or negative paper. With them might 
occasionally be seen just as great an enthusiast with a quarter- 
plate instrument and pockets full of dark slides. To judge 
from the photographers to be met with engaged in the work, 
half-plate is perhaps the most popular size of all, and one of 
the cheap stand-camera outfits, with a rapid rectilinear lens 
and a roller-blind shutter, will do all that is wanted in most 
cases. 

The lens used on landscape work pure and simple is oftenest 
a rectilinear; but, as Captain Cuttle said on a memorable 
occasion, “ Lord, it might be anything for the matter o’ that” 
We should certainly not have had the modern triumphs of the 
optician had the needs of the landscape photographer alone 
been in view. No lens could be so bad as to be incapable of 
use in that work, and a pinhole, except for the length of ex¬ 
posure it entails, gives a quality of definition which many 
would like to be able to get with a lens. The single lens is 
often referred to as a “landscape” lens, because its one inera¬ 
dicable defect—the curvature of lines, that are straight in the 
original, when they fall near the edge of the plate—is then 
immaterial; but the term is somewhat of a misnomer. A 
single lens is at least as suitable for portrait work, and, if of 
good quality and not used at too wide an angle, may also be 


330 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


employed in architecture. On the other hand, any lens will 
do for landscape photography, and will do well, the principal 
thing of importance being its focal length. Too wide an angle 
is a defect, because the illumination in all wide-angle lenses 
falls off rapidly towards the edge of the plate, and therefore 
they are to be avoided when the subject does not demand 
them. In landscape it very seldom does. Moreover, the wide- 
angle lens tends to dwarf distance, and this in most landscapes 
is exactly the opposite of what the photographer wants. A 
convenient focus will probably be found to be about the length 
of the longest side of the plate, if the lens is a doublet. This 
will allow the back half of the lens to be used with most 
landscape cameras. In this way an image on about twice as 
large a scale as with the complete lens is obtained. If a single 
lens only is to be used, it may well be of longer focus than the 
doublet—say, half as much again. The caskets of spectacle 
and other lenses are very suitable, as with three or four lenses 
ten or a dozen combinations can be secured, giving a range of 
focus which will suit almost every imaginable requirement. 

It is in outdoor photography especially that the advantages 
of films are so apparent. Their lightness allows more to be 
carried than could be done with plates, while they are unbreak¬ 
able, and, greatest merit of all, are daylight loading. Until a 
few years ago it was a reproach against roll film that it was 
not orthochromatic, but that has now been removed. In very 
large sizes cut film takes the place of roll; or negative paper 
may be used with considerable saving in weight and little loss 
of efficiency. Even ordinary bromide paper has been used for 
negative making ; but the coating of emulsion on it is purposely 
kept very thin, and therefore it does not have that long range 
which is such a characteristic of a plate or film made for 
negative work. Orthochromatic plates will be found to offer 
great advantage over ordinary, particularly if used with a 
screen. Indeed, in no work is their superiority so manifest as 
when they enable us to get clouds and landscape on the same 
plate, £nd when they differentiate between the light spring 
|jreen of the new foliage and the deeper shades of the ever¬ 
green, which the ordinary plate renders practically alike and 
both far too dark. Backed plates are, of course, used invari¬ 
ably by all except those who are willing to sacrifice a certain 


V DECORATIVE PANEL 

BY DAVID BLOUNT 







LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY 


331 


degree of quality to obtain a little diminution in trouble or 
expense. Very rapid plates are not so much a necessity in 
landscape work as in much other photography, but at times 
they are a boon. Particularly is this the case in windy weather, 
or when there is much light foliage in the foreground, stirred 
by the least breath of air. Those are the times when the 
shutter is most useful, not only for the short exposure obtain¬ 
able in no other way, but for the liberty to watch the subject 
and to expose exactly at the right moment, without taking 
the eyes off it. 

Those who use the hand-or-stand type of camera can 
carry it open and employ it as a view meter; but when the 
ordinary landscape pattern is adopted, particularly if it is half¬ 
plate size or larger, it is often inconvenient to carry it in any 
way except in its case. Instead of unpacking and setting it 
up every time there is any idea of taking a photograph, we 
can then add a simple form of view meter to our outfit, which 
will save a lot of trouble in this direction, by allowing us to 
settle upon the subject before the camera is taken out at all. 
The best form of meter is one which can be constructed at 
home in a very few minutes, out of a piece of card and thread. 
The card, which is best blackened, should have an opening 
cut in it the same shape as the plate, and with its two sides in 
the same proportion. By drawing the pencil round a plate 
put on a piece of paper, the proportion is easily obtained. We 
draw the diagonal of the plate very carefully on the paper, 
and then any rectangle we construct in the angle at one end of 
the diagonal will have its sides proportional to those of the 
plate, if its diagonal coincides with that of the plate. A 
convenient size of opening for a view meter to use with a half 
plate is one 3^ X 2§, or with a whole plate 3^ X 2j inches. 
The width of margin all round the opening should be at least 
half an inch. The thread is fastened to the centre of one side 
of the card, and is marked at distances which bear the same 
proportion to the side of the opening as the focus of each lens 
available bears to the corresponding side of the plate. By 
holding up this card as far from the eye as is indicated by 
the mark on the thread, and closing the other eye, we shall 
see in the opening exactly the subject that we shall get on the 
plate, using the lens whose focus corresponds to the mark. 


332 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Where there are several lenses we can try the card at different 
distances from the eye, and in that way decide whether the 
subject is suitable or not, and, if so, what lens will be required. 
Such an instrument can be slipped into the pocket and saves 
a lot of packing up and unpacking. 

The exposure meter is never of more service than in land¬ 
scape photography, since there is so great a variety in the 
character of the subject and the strength of the light that 
reaches it. On the same afternoon we may have a cloud effect 
or distant view fully exposed with a hundredth of a second, 
a group of cattle requiring perhaps a tenth, a mass of under¬ 
growth and moss-covered trunks with thick overhanging 
branches calling for two or three seconds, all with the same 
stop. Thanks to the orthochromatic plate and yellow screen 
it is now possible in many landscapes to secure the clouds on 
the same plate as the rest of the picture. 

The earliest lesson the landscape photographer has to learn 
is that of what not to take. We have all suffered under the 
well-meaning friend who has guided us up to some place where 
there is “Such a lovely view; just the thing for your camera, ,, 
and in common politeness we have enthused, and put up the 
tripod and made an exposure on it; but with what a result! 
The expanse of country which looked so fair and wide and 
luxurious as it spread out before us for miles, dotted with 
homesteads and woods, with the silver ribbon of the river 
winding through it, now bending round the hills we know, 
which from our present position hardly seem to rise above 
the gen eral level, now flowing by the little church and beneath 
the old stone bridge, the whole panorama stretching out clear 
and unmistakable right up to the purple hills in the distance, 
is this the photograph of them ? That white streak, can that 
be the river ? And that dull grey patch cut off from the top 
of the print by a blank stretch of white. Do not say that that 
is photography’s version of the delectable mountains and of 
the masses of cumulus that flecked and dappled them as the 
clouds floated by the sun. The church we find after much 
careful scrutiny; but the fields beside the river and the woods 
that crown the little hill are indistinguishable in tone from 
each other or from the houses. That is the camera version of 
the scene. The charm of colour we did not expect to get; but 


LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY 333 

the photographer who is making his first attempt at such a 
view may be forgiven if he expected a little more than this. 

He forgot that his impression was not obtained by looking 
at some little bit of it through his view meter, but that he was 
conscious of the expanse around him, and that he turned his 
eyes from side to side, deriving a broad and general impression 
which the camera cannot render at all. The details stand out 
largely because of their colour, the blue haze through which 
the more distant objects are seen does not hide them from the 
eye to the extent that it cuts them off from the lens, and we 
are conscious of foreground objects with decided outlines and 
casting bold shadows, even if they are not included in our view 
for the moment. All these, of course, are absent in the photo¬ 
graph, which may just serve to remind us of the extent of the 
prospect, but can never convey a faithful impression of it to 
any one else. 

The camera craves for some object near at hand with 
decided outlines, with bright lights and deep shadows, some¬ 
thing on which the eye may fasten as the subject or dominant 
point in the picture ; and this is just what is sure to be wanting 
in the panoramic view. The impression of space or extent is 
there to the eye, but it can only be conveyed in the photograph 
by having some object in the foreground beyond which the 
space is suggested. In plain language, there must be a mark 
from which the eye can measure, though the distance may be 
indicated by nothing more than the difference of tone. 

For particular purposes views of wide expanses may be 
taken, but they are hardly to be regarded as examples of 
landscape photography in the ordinary acceptation of the term. 
It is often useful to have such a view, including a much wider 
angle than any ordinary lens would give, and for this purpose 
panoramic cameras have been devised, some forms giving the 
entire circuit round their standpoint. If one of these is not at 
hand, the ordinary camera may be used to take a succession of 
pictures, which are subsequently to be mounted up side by side. 
To do this the tripod top must be carefully levelled, and not 
moved afterwards until the whole series is complete, or the 
consecutive pictures will not follow on properly. In any case, 
it is better not to attempt to join them up in contact, but to 
mount them with a narrow space between each. The eye then 


334 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


overlooks any slight lack of register, which otherwise would 
attract attention, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. 
The Panoram Kodak is a very popular instrument for views of 
this type, but even with it panoramas are sure to be disappoint¬ 
ing, and it finds its best use when employed on subjects which 
demand a very wide angle, but subjects in which the interest 
lies essentially in the foreground. 

In selecting a place in which to do landscape work, a 
photographer, if he wishes to do more than get a few pleasant 
mementoes of his visit—and most of us aim higher, whatever we 
reach—should be guided by his own liking for some particular 
type of scenery or some particular effect. One will find that 
wide stretches of flat country, broken only by dyke and hedge¬ 
row, and dotted here and there with church or windmill, seem 
to his eyes to offer more pictorial possibilities than woodland or 
hillside ; and he will be wise if he tries to do his landscape work 
in the surroundings he finds so congenial. For years at the big 
London and other exhibitions pictures of this sort predominated 
to an extraordinary extent, and the flat country at the estuary 
of the Thames and the mouths of the Essex streams formed 
the happy hunting-ground of numberless photographers. Some 
went because they felt in sympathy with the subjects to be 
obtained there, but many were undoubtedly led to go in con¬ 
sequence of the work they had seen others do in that neighbour¬ 
hood. For the typical English landscape of stream and pasture, 
quaint locks and timber bridges, that Constable loved to paint, 
many go to Constable’s own country, making their headquarters 
at Dedham, near Colchester, a kind of photographic Mecca. It 
is a very delightful spot, though terribly hackneyed. The hills 
and valleys of Derbyshire, of North Yorkshire, and (L/f the Wye 
and Severn district are more to the taste of some; while for 
peaceful river scenes, only failing, if at all, from being even too 
picturesque and sentimental, there is the luxurious Thames. 
All of which only comes to this—that the landscape pho¬ 
tographer will work best in the country he knows best and 
loves most. Let him therefore be guided by his own incli¬ 
nations, rather than allow himself to be tempted to pastures 
new just because he has seen fine work done there by some 
one else. 

Woodland pictures pure and simple are the easiest, as far 


LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY 


335 


as access to the raw material of which they are made is con¬ 
cerned ; and for that very reason work in this direction is 
harder if it is to be fresh and original. The dweller in the 
country will know his own district well enough to find what he 
wants. The city man may need some direction, but should not 
want much. The Londoner is particularly fortunate in the 
beautiful commons and woods that lie only a few miles from 
the Metropolis along its southern edge, and in Epping Forest, 
stretching away for miles to the north-east. There is an 
immensity of material in the Forest for those who care to find 
it, though it is quite possible to walk far without seeing any¬ 
thing but brushwood and little unimportant shrubs. Some of 
the beechwoods there are magnificent, and there are silver 
birches, too, for those who admire that most graceful of trees. 

The photographic possibilities of the silver birch were first 
forced upon the attention of photographers by the pictures of 
Mrs. Dumas, of W. Thomas, and of Charles Job (see the plates 
facing pp. 112 and 256), and when once these workers had shown 
the w r ay, a host of others followed ; and the Essex marshes 
were succeeded by a “ birch-and-bracken ” epoch. Later, we 
had years when ploughing seemed to have monopolized pho¬ 
tographers’ attention, and anon flocks of sheep, then landscapes 
seen through doorways, and the like. These are not given as 
hints for subjects, but rather as examples of the tendency there 
is towards a fashion or craze for some particular class of picture. 
It is best to leave such to those who care to make them ; it is 
only one or two pictures by the pioneers that cling in the 
memory, and the host of imitations pass away and are for¬ 
gotten. If silver birches, or sheep, or teams ploughing take the 
fancy, by all means use such material ; but let the treatment be 
personal and individual, and the picture more than a mere echo 
of another. 

Shipping and marine subjects generally, although not per¬ 
haps in the strictest sense landscapes, may well be treated here. 
No one has done more in wave pictures than Mr. Mortimer, 
and he has kindly allowed us to reproduce one (see the plate 
facing p. 336). This is a class of work altogether apart, and 
as practised by Mr. Mortimer in winter on the wild and stormy 
coast of the Stilly Isles, it is perhaps the most exciting and 
dangerous form of photographic picture making. A tripod is 


336 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


of little use, the photographer must carry his camera, both in 
oilskins, and must use it much as it is employed in ordinary 
hand-camera work. “ The ideal camera for wave photography,” 
says Mr. Mortimer, “ would be a box camera of the magazine 
type, absolutely waterproof, and with no projections whatever 
beyond* say, the shutter release, focussing screw, and view 
finder.” The lens should be of fairly long focus, about 8-inch 
for 5 x 4, or io-inch for half-plate, and a roller-blind shutter, 
working in front of the lens, with adjustable speeds up to one- 
hundredth of a second, and also a focal-plane shutter, would be 
required. The shutter must be in front of the lens, as other¬ 
wise there is nothing to protect the glass from the spray, which 
would cover it and prevent photography in a very few seconds. 
An exposure of an eightieth of a second with F/i6, with a 
fairly rapid plate, will be found to be about correct for many 
wave studies. This is a type of subject wherein there is not 
merely the exposure required by the plate to be considered, 
but also the exposure necessitated by the movement of the 
subject. If the exposure is too long, the flying spray and 
swirling surf are blurred into indistinctness ; while too short an 
exposure, such as that obtained with a focal-plane shutter work¬ 
ing at its fastest, or almost its fastest, say one five-hundredth 
of a second, gives every detail so hard and sharp that the 
water seems lifeless or frozen, and all sensation of movement 
is lost. 

The rendering of movement, the photography of objects in 
motion so that they shall appear in motion, has always been a 
difficult problem. With fast plates and a fast shutter it is not 
difficult, if the light is good, to get them so that they shall not 
show much sign of movement; but, then, that is not at all what 
is wanted. An express train, flying along at sixty miles an 
hour, might be photographed so that all its details were sharp 
and distinct, and the photographer might be very proud of the 
result But pictorially there might be nothing to indicate that 
it was not standing still at the time. The painter gets the 
effect by showing the wheels as little more than a swirl ; but 
no exposure that the photographer can give could show them 
anything like the painter’s version. All he can do is to take 
care that the rapidly moving parts are not too crisply rendered, 
and help the effect as far as he can by the driving back of the 


ZULEIKA 

BY WILLIAM CROOIvE 





LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY 


337 


steam in the case of the train, by the cloud of dust from the 
motor-car, by the attitude or pose of figures riding or driving, 
and so on. It is one of the hardest pictorial problems to en¬ 
counter in photography, and may well be put beside the photo¬ 
graphy of a hilly road. Let the photographer who knows a 
steep hill in his neighbourhood, if he is fond of grappling with 
difficulties, sally forth to get a photograph of that hill which 
shall in any way convey a suggestion of its steepness. The 
vertical lines of a house contrasting with it may seem an easy 
solution ; but the house is not always there, and it is not 
possible always to show its lines so that they sharply contrast 
with the hill. Carefully posed or happily caught figures may 
help to give the right impression ; but the almost impossible 
character of the task will surprise many who will think at first 
that, if it is a steep hill, it will look a steep hill in the print. 
It may appear as such to the photographer, because the print 
recalls the hill to him ; but let him try the effect on some one 
who does not know it. 

Snow and hoar-frost subjects are often very tempting, but 
their photography has difficulties of its own quite apart from 
those of cold feet and benumbed fingers. Hoar-frost generally 
resolves itself into the question of a suitable background to 
show up the delicate tracery of the rime-encrusted branches ; 
but in snow scenes the trouble is to get snow that looks like 
snow. The texture of the snow surface cannot be represented 
by unsullied white paper; yet that is all that stands for 
it in many a snow picture. When we look at a snow-clad 
field, more especially when the sun is shining—but not then 
only—we cannot help being struck by the variation in what, 
without study, we might think was an even stretch of white, 
We see, plainly visible, a grain or texture over the white sur¬ 
face, and, besides this, a constantly varying tone due to the 
hummocks and depressions caused by the uneven ground 
beneath. Over and above this, we have the unevenness due to 
footprints, cart tracks, and the like, all of which may be valuable 
helps in picture making, and some at least of their appearance 
is essential if our snow is to suggest snow in any way. There 
are two means by which this end can be furthered: one is in 
the lighting, the other is development If we stand in the 

middle of a snow-covered field and look around, we shall find 
z 


338 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


that in some directions the characteristic surface is much more 
clearly seen than in others, those directions being governed, 
of course, by the position of the sun, or the quarter from 
whence the strongest light falls. As the surface is not so easy 
to get at any time, we try and arrange our picture so that the 
lighting is secured that emphasizes it most. Then, again, in 
development, the snowy surface will probably be the highest 
light in the picture ; but it must be kept thin enough for its 
detail to print out. Many a snow scene is spoilt from no other 
cause than over-development, with the idea of getting plenty of 
contrast, the result being that printing, if carried on long 
enough for the snow, has gone much too far for everything else. 
Those who are keen after pictures of this type will find a word 
of warning about the time of day may save disappointment 
after a snowfall. We can hardly start too early in the morning, 
provided it is daylight at all. The best effects are almost 
invariably to be secured at sunrise, or shortly after, and by 
eleven o’clock on a winter’s morning much of its beauty may be 
vanished, the sun covered by the mist which precedes another 
fall, or else powerful enough to turn what was a glittering lace 
of hoar-frost into black and dripping branches. 

There is no need, nor indeed is there space, to deal one by 
one with the many classes of subject into which landscape, or 
rather outdoor, photography might be divided. Each has 
difficulties of it* own, each calls for particular treatment in 
some way, and each has its own charms and its own followers. 
It is the widest of all the divisions of photographic work, the 
most popular, and the most fascinating. Whether we take our 
cameras to the coast, where sea meets land in daily strife, or 
whether we wander by brook and meadow, where everything 
breathes of peace and quiet, we are in touch with Nature, led to 
study her in one or other of her many moods, and to take from 
her not merely pleasure and delight in the present and in 
anticipation, but that freshness and strength which the open- 
air life and the pure but absorbing mental occupation go hand- 
in-hand to give. 


CHAPTER XXII 


ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY 

Cathedrals and churches—Interiors—The use of the exposure meter—Backed 
plates and halation—Perspective and point of view—Wide-angle lenses—The 
level—Most suitable type of camera—Anastigmats—Focussing dark interiors— 
Supplementary illumination—Living-rooms—Views through windows—Permis¬ 
sions to photograph—Their abuse. 

T HE photography of architecture may be approached either 
from the recording or the pictorial point of view; the 
object of the photographer in the one case being to obtain a 
delineation of some architectural feature or detail, and in the 
other to secure some passing phase or effect to convey to others 
the impression which the work makes upon him. This latter 
aspect of the subject hardly concerns us at present. The 
magnificent cathedrals and churches of this country are the 
inspiration of many a photographer, and few more delightful 
occupations for those who like camera work can be imagined 
than a summer day spent 

“ Where spreading oaks embow’r a Gothic fane,” 

following reverently the mind of its designers, and recording 
the details of shaft and capital, door and buttress, that take the 
fancy or lend themselves to delineation. 

Moreover, for the effect secured the work is easy. The 
structure stands unmoved, and we can expose just so long as 
we choose. The lighting, as a rule, is bold and simple, and the 
difficulty of getting enough contrast in his plates is not likely 
to trouble even the beginner. It has difficulties of its own, but 
they are not great. The problem of exposure, approached in 
the way described in Chapter X., solves itself. The exposure 
meter in interior work is not to be held in the deepest shadow 
that can be found in the subject, but in some light which repre¬ 
sents fairly the average illumination of the subject, the face of 

339 


340 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the meter being turned towards the source of the light. As 
in this work the time taken for the paper to darken to the full 
tint is often very considerable, the quarter tint will be found to 
be sufficient guide ; this, in the Watkins meter, is the lighter of 
the two tints provided. Even then the time taken may be 
longer than the photographer cares to spend before commenc¬ 
ing to expose. A very simple plan in such a case is to use 
such a stop that with the plate employed the time taken for 
the quarter tint to be reached is the correct time of exposure, 
and then to start exposing both the plate and actinometer 
paper together. When the latter has darkened to the tint, the 
lens is capped. If a smaller stop than the one so indicated is 
necessary, it is easy to prolong the exposure accordingly; but 
this hardly ever happens. With an ordinary (not extra rapid) 
plate, the Watkins quarter-tint is generally the exposure 
required with F/32. 

Outdoor work on architectural subjects calls for no special 
notice. 

If there be one purpose for which backed plates are more 
than ever necessary, it is in interiors. The range of light is so 
great, and the strongest illumination is often so close to the 
deepest shadow that, without proper backing, halation is almost 
sure to be troublesome. Round a brightly lit window, even 
with a backed plate properly exposed, there will often be 
noticed signs of halation. It is a mistake to regard these as 
a defect; as if such a subject is looked at critically, it will at 
once be apparent that the effect can be seen with the eye also. 
In fact, round any very brilliantly lit object there is always a 
certain glare, and if the true effect is to be secured in the photo¬ 
graph, that glare must be shown. 

Without trenching on the subject of pictorial photography, 
a few hints on the arrangement of architectural subjects may 
not be amiss. The direct square front view of a building is 
nearly always unpleasing. The effect given is too much that 
of a geometrical design or elevation, and an improvement is 
at once manifested when the building is regarded more at 
an angle. At the same time, this must not be overdone, for 
the camera placed opposite one corner—the line from it to the 
corner exactly bisecting the angle of the corner itself—gives a 
result even worse than the “ straight-on ” view. The actual 



BY GEORGE DAVISON 















ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY 


341 


angle must be decided by circumstances ; but it does not need 
a very great departure from a front view to obtain the best 
effect, as a rule. In the same way, the camera should not be 
set up in the centre of an aisle or colonnade, but a little to one 
side or the other. In this case it may point straight down the 
aisle, taking care that the more interesting side is that which is 
the more fully shown. In subjects such as this we have to be 
careful to make the picture complete. That is to say, important 
architectural features must not be shown in a truncated form : 
a heavy arch should not have its supporting pier or column 
removed : nor should a prominent column be shown without 
its base. If the arch must be included, its contour should leave 
the picture while it still tends upwards, so as to avoid any feel¬ 
ing of want of support or instability. It is as bad, or even 
worse, to get the principal feature just on the plate, so that the 
first feeling aroused on sight of the print is what a close thing 
it was that it was got on the plate at all. 

Another point worth mentioning is the avoidance of an 
unusual standpoint. The architect built for his work to be 
seen from the height of the eye, say 5 feet from the ground, 
or thereabouts ; and, as far as we can, if we are to avoid an 
unnatural appearance in the print, the camera should view it 
from a similar position. It is often much more convenient 
to take advantage of some elevated standpoint to get the 
view we want, but the view suffers. Nothing gives a more 
unsatisfactory rendering of some architectural feature than the 
appearance in the print of the upper surfaces of details and 
mouldings that were manifestly intended to be seen from 
below. Such a standpoint also leads directly to a very common 
failing in architectural work, and that is the inclusion of in¬ 
sufficient foreground. This may arise also from the use of 
the rising front too heedlessly. The sense of space in front of 
the work that is being photographed is lost when the vertical 
lines of the building are only allowed to meet the ground 
close to the bottom of the picture. 

These are only general considerations, and must be modi¬ 
fied according to circumstances; those circumstances nearly 
always resolve themselves into insufficient room to get the 
camera far enough away from the subject to allow of the use 
of anything but a wide-angle lens. The wide-angle lens in 


342 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


architectural interiors comes in for a lot of abuse ; but it is open 
to question if it is not better to employ it constantly, even 
when there is just room for one of longer focus to be used. If 
this course is followed, and the photographer is able to screw' 
his courage up to the sticking-point and trim his prints down 
ruthlessly, he is less likely to find, when he comes to consider 
his finished print, that he has cut things too fine, and that in 
order to be able to use his long-focus lens he has just sacrificed 
a bit of foreground which is almost a pictorial necessity. If 
the wide-angle lens is always used as suggested, it must not 
be made a pretext for getting close up to the subject, as then 
the perspective will seem forced. It will give us pictures on a 
smaller scale than the long-focus lens, and that we must put 
up with, or enlarge, but the power it gives of making the final 
selection of the subject to be included on the finished print 
instead of on the focussing screen is a very valuable one. 

The level is a necessity in architectural work, and the 
photographer who does not want to have distortion caused by 
tipping the camera will be wise if he provides himself with 
something more than one of the little patterns made for attach¬ 
ing to the camera. The best of all is a metal square, with a 
spirit-level let into one side ; many of the tool shops keep it. 
One side is placed on the ground glass itself, and the level will 
at once indicate any departure from the vertical. Failing this, 
a plumb line, such as can be extemporized from a piece of 
thread and a bunch of keys, will be found the most convenient. 

If much architectural work is to be done, that fact ought to 
be borne in mind when the camera is being bought. Some 
workers have expressed a preference for a camera with taper 
bellows, the back fixed and the front racking out; but a better 
form is the rather old-fashioned square type, focussing from 
the back as well as from the front. Ample swing on the back 
should be provided, especially if telephotographic lenses are to 
be used on distant details, and in that case a strong firm tilting 
table is almost a necessity. A more important feature in the 
camera us^d for architecture is the rising front. A very 
common defect is insufficient rise; nothing limits the photo¬ 
grapher so much. It should be possible to raise the lens until 
its top edge is in a line with the top of the plate ; more than 
this may at times be useful. An arrangement for holding the 


ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY 


343 


tripod legs to prevent them slipping on stone floors is also a 
very comforting one, taking a lot of strain off the temper, and 
sometimes preventing serious damage. When it is not to be 
had, corks may be fastened on the points of the tripod, or 
pieces of rubber tube slipped on, or a focussing cloth may be 
put down to prevent any sliding about. This last device may 
be employed in English churches, but in Continental cathedrals 
is too expensive, as, if the photographer is at all squeamish, 
he may want to burn the cloth after use. 

Most that need be said about the lens and its use has 
already been given, and there is little to add. The best of 
modern anastigmats is not too good for the purpose, for if ever 
there is a subject which can take advantage of all its excel¬ 
lences, it is an architectural one, and an interior at that. If 
only one lens is to be carried, it should be one of decidedly 
wide angle, since this can be used on all subjects, and when 
possible the print may be trimmed down, or a portion of the 
negative enlarged. If this is not the case, and a lens of normal 
angle is used, the photographer will find that a certain number 
of subjects which he would be glad to get will have to be 
omitted. Such a lens as is suggested would be a 4-inch lens 
on a quarter-plate, 6-inch on half-plate, 8-inch on whole plate. 
If a second lens is possible, one of a focus half as long again 
will be useful. The advantage of many of the modern lenses 
is, that while nominally very rapid medium angle instruments, 
they are also good wide-angle lenses when used on a larger 
size of plate. Thus a quarter-plate anastigmat of 5-inch focus 
in the author’s possession, which can be worked at F/6*3, may 
be used with excellent results on a half-plate by stopping it 
down to F/22, while its back combination, of a little over 
9 inches focus, covers a half-plate at full aperture, in that case 
F/i2’5. There is an impression in many quarters that a single 
lens, however good, is not suitable for architectural work, on 
account of its distortion of straight lines. This is largely a 
question of the lens; with some the distortion is very marked, 
with others it will hardly be detected, unless a subject is 
specially arranged to give it, by getting a long straight line 
close to the margin of the picture, so that the slightest 
discrepancy between the two can be seen. 

Focussing in interior work is sometimes very difficult, on 


344 - 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


account of the difficulty of seeing the image. Many get over 
the focussing difficulty by doing the best they can by their un¬ 
aided eyesight, and then using a stop so small that everything 
must be sharp. There are certain lenses which must be focussed 
with the stop that is to be employed, the stopping down alter¬ 
ing their focus, and therefore tending to blur things that were 
sharp originally; but the real objection to this rather happy- 
go-lucky sort of treatment is that it makes exposure so much 
longer than it need be—and exposures in interior work are 
generally quite long enough as it is. In very many cases 
where there may be trouble the difficulty is simplified by the 
fact that the most distant object is a window or other high light, 
that can easily be seen on the ground glass. In that case we 
can focus the window as sharply as possible, insert the largest 
stop likely to be serviceable, and then gradually rack the lens 
and plate further and further apart, stopping as soon as any 
departure from absolute sharpness is noticeable in the outline 
of the window. If the foreground objects cannot be seen on 
the screen, a candle may be lit and placed against the nearest 
of them, and it will soon be seen if it is sharp or not. If not, 
then a smaller stop is inserted, the distant high light is again 
focussed, and the procedure repeated. Even when there is not 
a window in the field of view, and the most distant object is 
dark, it is often possible to employ this method by turning the 
camera so as to bring one of the windows into the required 
position, focussing on it, and then turning the camera back. 
In all such cases we should remember that a little diffusion, 
which would be quite allowable or even unnoticed in a distant 
object, would spoil the picture altogether if it were noticeable 
in the foreground. A couple of short pieces of candle should 
always be included in the camera-case when interiors are likely 
to form the subject of the work. Very often they can be 
placed on the nearest and most distant parts respectively, and 
then the task is a very easy one. When both of these are in¬ 
accessible, and the image cannot clearly be seen on the screen, 
at the worst we can place a candle at a position behind the 
nearest object, distant from it approximately one-third of the 
separation between that nearest point and the most distant one. 
Focussing then on the candle, and inserting the smallest stop 
permissible, we can be confident that we have got a fairly good 


ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY 345 

general focus. Such devices, fortunately, are very seldom 
needed 

Professional photographers, who have much work to do in 
dark interiors, often manage to reduce very much the time 
needed to get a full exposure by using magnesium to help in 
the illumination of the deepest shadows. It is a very danger¬ 
ous auxiliary for those whose work is to be seen and judged by 
other photographers, but in prints for the non-photographic 
public, whence the professional draws his customers, false light¬ 
ing or a few extra and unexplained sources of illumination 
make little or no difference. They merely want to see every¬ 
thing that they know to be there ; and, to do the professional 
justice, he generally gives them what they want. If mag¬ 
nesium is to be used at all, it should be used very sparingly. 
Ribbon is more convenient than flash powder, as it is more 
under control, and, burning slower, may be moved about more, 
It is out of the question in most sacred buildings, and in others 
which are of national importance, but in domestic interiors it 
may serve its turn. It is, of course, kept well out of the field 
of view, the necessity for that any one can see; but when it is 
used in an ordinary room, with mirrors, pictures, brightly 
polished furniture, and similar things about, the difficulty of 
avoiding a reflection of the light is much greater than many 
would imagine. The only way to make quite certain is to have 
a piece of the ribbon burnt in all the positions it is to occupy, 
and to watch the screen closely all the time. If the blinds can 
be drawn down while this is being done, so much the better. 

There is an effect which many a photographer tries to 
secure, only to find that he fails: an interior of a room with, at 
the same time, a view through the window. If there are two 
windows to the room, we can darken one by hanging brown 
paper all over it, and giving nine-tenths or thereabouts of the 
total exposure by the light of the other, the window that does 
not figure in the field of view. Capping the lens while the 
brown paper is removed, the remaining tenth is given when the 
window is uncovered. The actual relative exposures must be 
ascertained by trial. If the first is too long, the room will look 
unnaturally light. As a general rule, it is well for any error 
made to be on the dark side, as far as the room itself is con¬ 
cerned. By giving the two exposures on two separate plates 


346 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


and combination printing, a better effect can often be obtained, 
but it requires more skill, and is considerably more troublesome. 
Occasionally the effect sought for can be got by working on the 
negative with cotton-wool and a little Baskett’s reducer ( q.v .). 

While, in buildings of any architectural pretension, the 
photographer, as a rule, has the advantage that the subject of 
his work has been arranged and lit on purpose to show it to the 
best effect, this is not invariably the case by any means ; and 
the question of illumination will often be a puzzling one. The 
morning and evening, when the sun is low, are the best times 
for the greater number of subjects, and in this country at least 
there are many interiors in which photography is only possible 
during the summer months. Spring weather—sunshine and 
fleeting clouds—while reducing exposures, may give trouble 
from the necessity of waiting to secure some given effect of 
sunshine and shade, or to avoid it. There are many compara¬ 
tively commonplace subjects which are transfigured by a shaft 
of sunlight; and this is nothing like so difficult to secure as 
many might think. Perhaps as fine an example of this as has 
been done by photography is seen in “ Wirksworth Church,” 
by Mr. Bland (the reproduction faces this page). The value 
of the sunlight streaming in by the chancel windows speaks for 
itself. A totally different lighting proved very useful to the 
author some years ago, and may be mentioned as one of those 
unusual accidents which are beneficial rather than otherwise. 
He had tried to photograph a fine old oak ceiling, black with 
age and very badly lit, and had got a result with which he had 
to be satisfied, as, poor though it was, it seemed the best under 
the circumstances. The merest chance took him there one 
spring morning after a light snowfall, and the illumination, due 
to the light reflected from the snow, was so much improved 
that, at considerable inconvenience, the roof was photographed 
again. The result was one which could never have been ob¬ 
tained but for the snow, and puzzled considerably a number of 
photographers who had tried their hands on the same subject. 
The moral to be drawn is that difficult work of this kind should 
be seen under as widely different conditions as possible, and the 
best selected. Of course, the lighting of an interior due to 
snow outside is hardly likely to give a true effect, unless the 
presence of the snow is suggested in some way ; but in this case 



WIRKSWORTH CHURCH 


1SV w. R. III.A N I) 


























































































































ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY 347 

it was a simple question of getting a good record photograph of 
the fine carving. 

It is not easy to get a photograph of an ordinary living- 
room which will look quite natural. Some suggest that all the 
furniture has been pushed up into one corner for the operation, 
while others look as if they had been arranged to death. 
Exclusion should be the guiding principle of any arranging 
that has to be done, taking away first one thing and then 
another, until a satisfactory effect is obtained. Pictures are 
often the source of brilliant reflections where they are not 
wanted, and these ought to be looked for specially, as other¬ 
wise they may only be noticed when the print is made and 
alteration is impossible ; a cork or wedge behind the frame 
will often alter its angle sufficiently to prevent an unpleasant 
reflection from the glass. Furniture close to the camera, so 
that only part of it appears, and that disproportionately large, 
should always be removed, and as much space as possible 
allowed between the lens and the nearest object. This is 
generally the chief trouble in photography at home, because 
of the size of the room. In such a case the photographer who 
finds a door behind his camera, so that he may get a few feet 
further back, is lucky; those few feet often make all the 
difference. 

Permission to photograph in cathedrals is generally obtained 
by written application to the dean. The actual permit often 
comes from the chapter clerk or surveyor. At some of the 
cathedrals a charge is made, notably at Norwich and Canter¬ 
bury. At Peterborough no permit at all is required. At 
others, members of photographic societies that are affiliated to 
the Royal Photographic Society are permitted to photograph 
without special permission, on the production of the “ Red 
Book,” which acts as the certificate of membership. It ought 
not to be necessary to point out that religious buildings of all 
kinds are erected for other purposes than photography, that it 
is a concession on the part of those to whom they belong, or 
in whose charge they are, to allow photography to be carried 
on within them, and that the character of the building should 
always be remembered. With public and private buildings 
alike, it should not be forgotten that the fact that the con¬ 
ditions under which photography is allowed are published does 


348 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


not confer a right on the photographer; and that in availing 
himself of the permission granted, he should leave nothing un¬ 
done to prevent the necessity for making them more stringent. 
A case came before the writer not very long ago, when he 
found that a building of great beauty and historic interest was 
closed to photography without special permission, whereas at 
one time there were no restrictions. The cause on inquiry was 
found to be that a photographer with more enthusiasm than 
savoir faire , without any inquiry or warning, had blazed off a 
quantity of flash powder in one of the rooms, filling it with 
smoke, and setting some of the woodwork on fire. 




THE DEWDROP IN THE SUNBEAM 


BY MISS KATE SMITH 


CHAPTER XXIII 


PORTRAITURE 

The necessaries—Neither studio nor “portrait lens” essential—Diffusion of focus— 
Type of camera—Backgrounds—Niagara Falls as a background—Portraits in 
ordinary rooms—Position of the sitter—Reducing exposures—Sunshine effects— 
Under-exposure and over-development —Dress—Outdoor portraits—Groups— 
The hands—Artificial light—Magnesium—“ Smokeless ” powders—Retouching 
—Animal photography. 

I N portraiture we have at once the easiest and the most 
difficult of all the applications of the camera. It is the 
easiest in its technical details, because, as far as these are 
concerned, the conditions vary so little for different portraits. 
The illumination is far less variable than it is with landscapes 
or with architecture, for instance, and it is very much more 
under control. There is no such immense range of light and 
shade that the plate has its capacity taxed to the utmost, or 
even exceeded, in the attempt to register it truthfully. The 
subject is set us ; and, in its simplest form, the problem hew to 
get a passable negative is easy in the extreme. It is only when 
our ambition carries us to attempt higher flights that we begin 
to realize th(> difficulties of portrait work. When we are no 
longer satisfied with a mere bald record of the sitter’s exterior ; 
when we want to get a picture which shall not represent him 
merely as he happened to look when being photographed, but 
as we know him to be ; when we are no longer content that he 
shall be shown as a head together with some clothes, arms, and 
legs, but that the arms and legs, and even the clothes them¬ 
selves, shall form part of one complete representation, and 
help to show us the man as he is—not suggesting even that 
he is being photographed, but simply suggesting him. 

The noblest study of mankind is man, says the poet; and 
later commentators have added that man embraces woman. In 

349 


350 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


photographic portraiture we have the noblest side of photo¬ 
graphy, or at least we might hope to make it so. Before 
attempting any of such higher flights, however, we have got to 
master the rudiments of the art; we must learn to walk before 
we try to fly. 

Let not the reader be deterred from attempting portraiture 
because he does not happen to have a regular studio, or even 
a portrait lens. For professional photography, for dealing with 
children, and with nervous sitters who have heard of “the 
instantaneous process ” and insist on that latest product of 
science being placed at their disposal, such means of cutting 
down the exposure to the minimum are very useful. But, 
except for the shortness of exposure they allow, there is nothing 
to be gained from the use of portrait lenses ; while, as far as 
studios are concerned, they will give certain lighting effects not 
easily secured in ordinary rooms, and will allow us to control 
the lighting readily, but are not otherwise of much service. 
Certain it is that ordinary living-rooms, if only they are large 
enough to allow the camera to be placed far enough from the 
sitter, give a wonderful choice of lighting suitable for different 
subjects, and give a certain guarantee against unusual lighting, 
which is the besetting sin of the studio worker. Nor is the 
light in the ordinary room necessarily so weak as to make 
exposures difficult; and under favourable conditions from five 
to ten seconds should do all we want. 

The “ portrait lens,” so called, was the result of the demand 
for the shortest possible exposure, when exposures ran to 
minutes rather than seconds, and much in its design was 
sacrificed to rapidity. It is still used and popular, and for the 
purpose of professional work is a valuable help. Its size and 
weight and cost render it rather a white elephant to amateurs. 
Only a solidly built studio camera will hold a whole-plate 
portrait lens, while many a landscape-pattern camera has not a 
front large enough to take it, even were its build strong enough 
to carry such a burden. The most serviceable lens the amateur 
can have is his anastigmat, rapid rectilinear, or similar all-round 
tool, for full-length figures ; while for large heads, busts, and 
work on a comparatively large scale, the single half of that 
instrument, or, better still, a single lens of longer focus, will be 
found useful. 


PORTRAITURE 


351 


There is one advantage about some forms of portrait lenses 
that is not to be despised, and it is due to a feature introduced 
many years ago by the late J. H. Dallmeyer. By unscrewing 
the cell which holds the back lens a little way, a certain degree 
of blur or diffusion of focus can be introduced at the will of the 
photographer. It may be asked, Why is there need for such a 
device, when the image may simply be thrown out of focus? 
But the result is not at all the same. When we throw the 
subject out of focus, the extent of the blur varies according to 
the position of each part with reference to the camera. When 
we get the desired blur on the principal object, we may find 
that a more distant part is so terribly diffused as to be 
offensive and a nearer part has been brought into critically 
sharp focus, and is in consequence altogether too prominent. 
Or this state of things may be reversed, the nearer object 
being blurred and the distant one sharpened. In either case 
the result is not what we want, and we shall find, sometimes at 
least, that by mere focussing with a lens that can give a critically 
sharp picture, the effect is not to be got. The adjustment on 
the Dallmeyer and other portrait lenses is of a different nature 
entirely. It introduces a certain degree of diffusion over the 
whole picture, over and above any due to selective focussing; 
and it also gives us the very valuable power of increasing or 
decreasing the diffusion at will, or of repeating any particular 
effect exactly. To accomplish this, all we have to do is to take 
care that the extent to which the lens is unscrewed is the same 
each time. When large portraits are attempted, and softness 
of focus is very desirable, the Dallmeyer-Bergheim lens, already 
referred to, will be found very useful, both for the extent of the 
diffusion that is possible with it, and for the fact that, being 
constructed on the telephotographic principle, it can be used 
at a considerable distance from the sitter without any need for 
an abnormal camera extension. But portrait lenses of these 
types are costly, and partake of the nature of luxuries rather 
than necessities ; and a single lens, even an uncorrected single 
lens, in the hands of one who takes the trouble to master its 
capabilities, will do wonders. For large work critical definition 
'is rarely wanted at all; the perfect lens sharply focussed gives 
quite an unnaturally sharp texture to skin and hair and fabric. 
In such cases the single lens may be opened out to work at 


352 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


F/n, or even at F/8 or F/6, and will do wonders at that. 
Those who like a compromise between a portrait lens and a 
rectilinear, and propose to limit their work to half or whole 
plate, will find that kind of lens which goes under the name of 
the Euryscope very suitable, being faster than the rapid recti¬ 
linear (F/6 usually), and if slower than the portrait lens, at least 
flatter in the field. Pinhole portraiture has been performed— 
performed is emphatically the right word under the circum¬ 
stances—but is hardly practicable, or rather is practicable 
hardly. 

If no special form of lens is a necessity, still less is any 
particular type of camera. The landscape camera, if it will 
carry the lens, will do all we can want of it; but portrait work 
with a tripod, if possible, is at least very inconvenient. Far 
more handy is a simple studio stand, on casters or otherwise, 
by which the camera can be raised or lowered without moving 
the feet, and the whole arrangement moved to and fro as 
desired without having to adjust three legs every time. It 
need not be an expensive one, provided it will stand firm 
and has the needful adjustment. A studio shutter, opening 
inside the camera so as not to be noticeable, and provided with 
an ample length of rubber tube and a big bulb, is a luxury, but 
again, is certainly not a necessity; it may prove a nuisance in 
long exposure, unless kept in very good order, by a trick it 
will sometimes acquire of gently closing while the bulb is still 
tightly pressed. 

The most obvious necessity of the portrait worker will seem 
to be a background of some kind ; yet even with that he may 
dispense, and, if he can, his work will be the better for it. 
Except in large heads, and very few other instances, the 
complete elimination of surroundings is a mistake. It is 
generally due to a desire to dodge the difficulties involved in 
dealing with accessories. The studio background, with its trees, 
landscape, rustic bridge, or whatever it may happen to be, it is 
to be hoped, will never find its way into the workroom of the 
amateur. Such a self-proclaimed sham has only to be seen to 
be condemned. The background is merely the setting of the 
figure, and therefore it should either be a natural background 
of the actual surroundings in which we see him in life—care¬ 
fully selected, arranged, and lit, it is true, in order to help 



HARVEST MOUSE 


BY DOUGLAS ENGLISH 


















































PORTRAITURE 


353 

towards that effect which it is our object to secure—or else a 
mere tint which may show up the model without attracting 
attention to itself, either by what it purports to be, or by 
what it is not. It comes, then, to this—that our background 
should be a perfectly plain fabric of suitable tone for our 
purpose, or that we should use the ordinary surroundings in 
the room. In other words, the best background of all is none 
at all. 

As it is often impossible to arrange the surroundings 
in the way desired, or as the portrait may be merely a half or 
quarter length figure, or perchance the head alone, when any 
distinct character in the background would be competing for 
attention with the sitter and out of place, something in the 
nature of a plain background is at times very useful. This 
may be extemporized, or made, or bought. A background 
which did very good service with a clever portrait worker of 
our acquaintance was a buff-coloured camel-hair travelling- 
rug, which had one feature we have never seen possessed by 
any other background whatsoever—it could be rolled or folded 
or crumpled to any extent and apparently for any length of 
time; but when pinned up by two corners it hung flat and 
smooth, without a crease or wrinkle to cast a shadow. Rollable 
backgrounds with their two sides of different shades are 
purchasable ; but they must be handled very carefully if they 
are to be kept free from creases. The most lasting back¬ 
ground is one made by stretching sheeting on a frame, and 
giving it two or three coats of colour, which may be distemper 
—whitening, size, water, and colouring matter —01 flatted oil. 
The latter lasts longer, but the former is so easily renewed that 
it is generally to be preferred. Flatted oil is the term applied 
to oil paint which has had the shiny character of its surface 
destroyed by being treated with a mixture of the colour and 
turpentine only, the brushmarks being taken out by stippling 
the surface, before it dries, with a badger softener. _ Those who 
do not care to adopt this can employ a makeshift almost as 
effective, but not so lasting, by applying the colour, in fine 
powder mixed up with powdered dextrine, to the material 
which has been damped to receive it. Brown or grey paper 
sold in rolls about 5 feet wide, under the name of carpet felt, 
makes an excellent background, which, if not lasting, is at least 

2 A 


354 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


very easily renewed. Other materials will suggest themselves 
from time to time. 

It is important that a background, when one is used, shall 
not assert itself as such. It should either appear as a mere 
tone in the print, or else as the surface of the wall behind the 
sitter. Creases and folds in walls are not customary, and we 
must therefore avoid them in the background which is to 
represent the wall. If the creases are slight they may be 
made invisible by throwing the background out of focus, while 
even bad ones can be hidden if the background can be kept 
moving during exposure. The fault of the elaborately painted 
background is not that it represents itself to be what it is not, 
but rather, that it does not represent itself as what it purports 
to be. The dull, uniform tint of a flat background may 
well stand for a wall, as no one can say that it is not, and 
the effect in every respect is what it would be were it a wall. 
And in photography the effect is what we strive after. On 
the other hand, no one with the slightest power of observation 
or art training can be taken in by the representation of a figure, 
with most unmistakable indoor illumination on it, standing in 
front of a painted landscape. At Niagara they will take you 
standing in front of a background representing the falls, but 
the effect is only fit for those who appreciate it. That there 
should be a public for such things—and there is one, and a large 
one, on both sides of the Atlantic—must excite the astonish¬ 
ment of all except the cynical. 

In the use of a background its position with regard both 
to the model and the light is very important. If it is close 
up to the sitter, or very near him, he will throw a shadow upon 
it, which is often very useful pictorially ; he may even be in 
contact with it, and so his pose will get that support which 
such contact will inevitably suggest. But it must then be a 
pose with which such support harmonizes. No one sits in an 
ordinary everyday position touching a wall, or even very near 
it, but in the smallest room naturally selects a place where 
there is a certain space for freedom of movement; therefore, 
if such a pose is adopted, the background must appear to be 
well away from the figure—an illusion which can be at once 
destroyed by the appearance on it of the sitter’s shadow. 
The darkest background will show a shadow if it is in a fairly 



DR. MUNRO (1846) 

15Y DAVID OCTAVIUS HIM. 





PORTRAITURE 


855 


strong light. The angle it makes with the light is important, 
because of the means it gives us of controlling the tone of the 
background. The more it faces the light the lighter will it 
appear, because it will receive more light than when it stands 
obliquely with reference to the source of light. This is 
mentioned here, because it has been stated recently by a writer 
on portraiture that the reverse is the case ; an observation 
which shows that its author is more familiar with an elementary 
law concerning the reflection from polished surfaces, than he 
is by experience with the behaviour of the dull matt surface 
of a background reflecting diffused light from a limited source. 

The principal faults of the ordinary room for portraiture 
are that it entails a longer exposure than would otherwise be 
needed, and is often inconveniently small. On the other hand, 
there is less temptation to produce a portrait of the “ being 
photographed ” type, beyond which so few professional photo¬ 
graphers seem able to get. We can show our sitter as we see 
him, amid his everyday surroundings, and in an everyday pose. 
It is this that we must study to secure, and when the camera 
is set up and the general arrangement has been settled, a very 
important part of the task remains. As far as the material 
before the camera is concerned, all unnecessary objects likely 
by the contrasts they present to be assertive where assertion 
is not wanted, must be removed or rearranged. It is not the 
objects themselves that will give trouble, so much as the way 
in which they become prominent by contrast with their neigh¬ 
bourhood. So long as the general effect is low in tone, where 
lowness in tone is wanted, the mere presence of a lot of 
accessories that are completely in character with the rest of 
the subject is an advantage rather than the reverse, by filling 
up an otherwise bare blank space in a suitable manner. This 
can be helped further by focussing so that emphasis is put 
where it is needed, and the unnecessary is rendered unobtrusive. 
There is no objection to subordinate parts appearing out of 
focus—provided that they are not blurred in that intermediate 
manner which is so disturbing; that is to say, they must either 
be sharp enough for us to see what they are, or sufficiently 
blurred for it not to matter in the slightest what they are. 
Blurring is only really offensive when it attracts attention, by 
arousing an inquiry it does not satisfy. 


356 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


The idea that the sitter must be close to the window is 
best thrown overboard at once. There is only one reason for 
it, and that is the shortening of exposure, dearly purchased 
at the expense of a satisfactory lighting and harmonious result. 
The nearer to the window the harsher the contrasts, and the 
more need for that very doubtful auxiliary, the reflector, with 
the danger of double and unnatural lighting it introduces. 
Many of the difficulties of home portraiture vanish by the 
model being placed well within the room. The question of 
space becomes much less troublesome, there is room to put 
the background well away from the figure, and, if need be, the 
camera may be placed so that it sees the sitter from a point 
much nearer to the source of the illumination. It is the fact 
that the lines joining the sitter with the light and with the 
camera respectively, often meet nearly at right angles when 
the sitter is posed close to a window, that helps to make the 
reflector so essential; as those lines close together, so does 
the lighting get flatter and flatter, until, when the camera is 
directly between the light and the sitter, exactly the opposite 
defect is introduced. 

The time of exposure is reduced by this means to an 
extent quite remarkable to those who only consider the falling 
off in the strength of the light caused by distance from the 
window, and not the increased light in the shadow, which is 
the governing factor in exposing portraits, as in most other 
forms of photography. The north light idea is another notion 
which is best left to studio or regulation portraiture. There 
is no real reason why a portrait should not be taken in a room 
into which the sun is shining; in fact, the best portrait of the 
writer ever taken was made by Coburn, in a room undoubtedly 
designed as a bedroom, with a south aspect, and the sun 
shining in, but missing his head by an inch or two—thanks 
to the lower part of the window being curtained off. In that, 
the sun only helps the general illumination ; but fine portraiture 
has been done with splashes of sunlight, actually used to help 
the effect. The north light and the sky light are both legacies 
from the studio of the painter; necessary to him from the 
conditions under which he works. Necessary also to the pro¬ 
fessional photographer, whose customers might regard the 
sunshine on dress or surroundings as a defect. They have 



BY CHARLES H. L. EMANUEL 





PORTRAITURE 357 

come to look upon a certain kind of portrait as correct; and 
they won’t be happy till they get it. 

Under-exposure is as utterly ruinous in portraiture as in 
all else photographic. The directly visible result is in the 
exa gg er ation of the difference between the high lights. If there 
is any part of the subject lighter than the face, as there often 
is, the under-exposure leads to this being increased by over 
development, which usually accompanies it, until the face is 
quite unnaturally dark. This darkness is the cause of much 
wonderment to the beginner at times ; as he is apt to expect 
that the face should be white—which it never is. He marvels, 
therefore, when it is darker than it should be ; that in turn being 
darker than he thought. He is likely to over-develop, too, 
especially if he has had any experience with landscape work. 
A portrait negative should always look much thinner than 
a landscape ; it has more tendency to strong compact high 
lights and a broader area of shadows, and it is absolutely 
necessary that its very highest lights should have printing 
value. “ Stop development when you think it half done ” is 
sound advice to the landscape photographer making his first 
attempt at portraiture. Only by exposure full enough for the 
deepest shadows, and density not too great for the highest 
lights, can we hope to get that truth of tone essential to a good 
portrait. Have as broad and as deep shadows as may seem 
fit, let the high light be a mere spot in its concentration and 
brilliancy, but let it have a value determined by the deposit on 
the negative, and not merely be the negation of colour. 

Dress in portraiture may be as characteristic almost as the 
face itself; but its characterization is lost the moment it is 
worn for the purpose of the photograph, and that only. The 
work then passes into the domain of a figure study; where the 
dress may be assumed along with the expression, to convey some 
suggestion quite other than a likeness of the sitter. That field 
is a large one, and is very alluring; but needs to be trodden 
very carefully, if the pitfalls of anachronism and incongruity 
are to be avoided. There is so thorough a suggestion of the 
presence of the actual model before the camera, that the 
photographer who tries to deal with subjects of a bygone age, 
men in armour, Grecian damsels, Roman senators, and even 
sacred subjects and Biblical scenes, as some rash workers have 


358 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


done, handicaps himself by the modernity of his process with 
all the weight of inevitable makebelieve. There is no reason 
why the model should not wear a fancy dress ; but it should be 
a fancy dress, and the deliberate introduction of a suggestion 
of modernity is then an artistic virtue, and not a pictorial 
crime. Otherwise the dress is best when it is a perfectly 
natural one. However sumptuous and ornate—and such 
dresses may be perfectly natural in their place—it must be 
subordinated to the sitter, or the sitter at once becomes a 
mere clothes-horse. Perhaps such a result may be sought. 
There are circumstances under which it would be the most 
truthful—and cruel—portraiture ; but the result would be 
hardly likely to be pleasure giving. 

A point of much importance is the general tone of the 
costume. A poor complexion is helped very much by avoiding 
so light a tone in the clothes that they accentuate it. It may 
be noted, in passing, that there is always a tendency for flesh 
tones to come too dark—a tendency that will only be overcome 
when we have the perfect colour-sensitive plate. Without a 
screen, orthochromatic plates in portraiture will not be found 
to give noticeably truer renderings, while a screen is usually 
out of the question. A good complexion will often stand a 
very light dress, and treatment altogether in a high key, 
circumstances must be allowed to decide ; this high key 
demands more skill as a rule, but the result often more than 
repays for it. 

Portraiture out-of-doors removes at one sweep the bugbear 
of long exposure, since this, under all ordinary circumstances, 
comes down to a second or two. The mistake most often 
made with such work is the attempt, by the use of plain or 
other backgrounds, and by similar devices, to get what are 
essentially indoor effects of lighting. It is as wrong to try and 
get such results out-of-doors as it is to get sham outdoor 
pictures indoor ; both are worse than crimes, they are blunder, 
and in art the Talleyrand epigram has real justification. It is 
possible by putting the sitter in the angle of a wall, cutting off 
top light with some screen, and generally dodging the illumina¬ 
tion, to get something that may pass in a crowd for an indoor 
effect; but it will never justify the trouble taken. After all, 
people have been seen out-of-doors, some even have gone so 



TENNYSON 


BY MRS. CAMERON 





PORTRAITURE 


859 

far as to spend quite an appreciable part of their lives in the 
open air, so why should not the fact be boldly faced and made 
the most of? Those who have attempted genuine outdoor 
portraiture have accomplished some very delightful pictures; 
and, compared with many other paths, this one has been 
curiously untrodden. There should be little or no need for 
a warning against such offences as evening-dress in a sunshine 
picture, or slippers in a snow scene, though both have been 
perpetrated and shown. The shadow thrown by a hat need 
not be unpleasant, it may even form a delightful tone just 
where it is wanted, and the contraction of the pupils of the eye 
in the strong outdoor light is not unnatural. The commonest 
fault is found in the attempt to make the portrait far more 
than a portrait, to turn it in fact into a landscape and figure. 
The result is that fear of over-exposure for the landscape leads 
to under-exposure of the true subject, the sky comes out hard 
and white, and the face of the model almost black. Even 
when the exposure has been right, the enormous difference 
between the face and the sky may prove more than the plate 
can register properly, and the tones are untrue and have to be 
modified by some form of “ faking.” The easiest course is to 
avoid the inclusion of any sky in the picture at all ; by doing 
this, and by taking great care to subordinate the setting to the 
subject, although not attempting to suppress or to conceal the 
fact that it is an outdoor and not an indoor picture, it should 
not be hard to get successes from the first, which might not be 
completely satisfying but are at least full of encouragement for 
the future. 

Groups are the hardest subjects with which to deal in 
portraiture, and a group of more than three or four is seldom 
anything except a collection of persons standing still to be 
photographed, and all that we can hope to get is a good record 
of that occurrence. Occasionally we may meet with exceptions, 
and a croquet party, a few people waiting for a train, or saying 
good-bye, or otherwise engaged in some occupation which may 
be common to all, may inspire the photographer; but this will 
be seldom. The best he can do is to arrange the group so as 
to get little absolute uniformity in the pose of its components, 
and at the same time to see that they form a group and not 
a series of disconnected units. A natural background is a 


S60 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


necessity in such a case, and may be foliage, or a building, as 
circumstances permit. The mere recording is easy enough ; it 
is when the photographer has higher aims that the difficulty 
of the group appears. 

The hands play a part in portraiture, which ought never to 
be neglected. “ Show me the hands in the print, and I will tell 
you what I think of the photographer,” said a colleague to the 
author, as they were judging an exhibition together. The 
speaker had achieved more than local fame in figure work 
himself, and in all his sympathetic treatment of the hands was 
noticeable. Perhaps no finer example of this could be wanted 
than the “Aubrey Beardsley,” by F. H. Evans (facing this 
page), where that clever worker has succeeded in conveying 
as much by the wonderful hand of that eccentric genius as by 
his no less remarkable physiognomy. Mrs. Kasebier, in reply 
to a remark upon this same subject, brought out a collection 
of photographs of hands and nothing else, which was at least 
proof of the deliberate study of a feature, whose chief interest 
to many photographers seems to be conveyed by the remark, 
“ How am I to get rid of the hands ? ” Rather should it be, 
“ How am I to show the hands revealing the personality that lies 
in them, as it does in the face, at the same time subordinating 
them to it ? ” 

Portraiture by artificial light is more a professional photo¬ 
grapher’s stern necessity than the amateur worker’s delight. 
Flashlight work is curious, but seldom pleasing. This is due 
in large measure to the impossibility of deliberate study of the 
lighting effect beforehand, and to the improper placing of the 
flash, which is the inevitable sequel. If a flashlight portrait is 
to be attempted, the best effect will be found to be given when 
the flash is arranged as high above the sitter’s head as it is in 
front of him, so that the greatest light falls at an angle of about 
45 °. This is mere rule-of-thumb, and is open to many excep¬ 
tions. A diffuser of thin tissue paper or tracing paper is useful, 
when it does not catch fire, and very careful attention is neces¬ 
sary to prevent the presence of all kinds of unexpected shadows 
and reflections. Economy in flash powder at the present price 
of quarter-plates is false economy, only justified when the 
photographer has to stay in the room for some time afterwards 
in company with the smoke. All “smokeless” flash powders 



AUDREY I’>EARDSl.EN 


BY FREDERICK H. EVANS 





PORTRAITURE 361 

the author has seen, and he has seen and tried many, were only 
smokeless before they were lit. 

The most effective use of magnesium in portrait work lies 
in its employment to obtain firelight and lamp-light effects. 
The light from a fire is strong enough to the eye, but so slight 
is its action on a plate that portraiture by it is quite out of the 
question. But it may be supplemented either by a concealed 
flash-lamp, or by using flash powder or magnesium ribbon, 
without any falsity of effect, if the arrangements have been 
properly made. Flash powders are convenient, but must be 
handled with great care as they are all essentially explosive, 
though there is a difference between some and others as far as 
risk of accidental ignition is concerned. Still the safest plan is 
to regard all as explosives and handle them accordingly. They 
should never be kept in a stoppered bottle, for instance, where 
there is a risk of grinding against the glass. Flash-lamps, that 
is to say lamps constructed to project powdered magnesium— 
not the same as flash powder, which must never be used in a 
lamp—are safer, and on the whole are to be preferred. There 
is less risk of startling the sitter, and it is easier to control the 
exact moment of ignition. The Platinotype Company intro¬ 
duced a lamp for burning magnesium ribbon in oxygen gas, by 
which a very powerful light could be obtained, and the light 
being enclosed in a globe, no smoke got out into the room. 

A chapter on portraiture would hardly be complete without 
some reference to retouching, but most that need be written on 
this subject will be found dealt with in Chapter XX. Retouch¬ 
ing is at the best a painful concession made to his customers 
by the professional photographer. It is employed, justifiably, 
to remedy minute defects in the plate, and to counteract its 
tendency to darken the flesh tints. This it does at great risk 
of destroying characteristic modelling and texture, and of 
lessening likeness. If it must be used, it is best done 
vicariously; since it is in no sense a photographic process, 
nor is it easy to imagine any one delighting in it as a hobby. 
In pictorial portraiture it is seldom necessary to render the 
skin with such microscopic definition that retouching becomes 
an object at all, and if by any chance this has been done in the 
negative, the employment of a matt and not a glossy surface 
printing-paper should remedy matters. If it does not, a sheet 


862 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


of celluloid, matt on one side, interposed between negative and 
paper during printing, will remove that intense definition, 
which, in its way, is almost as bad as over retouching, and 
may be quite as false. 

The photography of the lower animals is not so different in 
essence from the photography of the highest animal, as to call 
for much distinctive treatment here. Most that ought to be 
said is more a matter for the naturalist than the photographer, 
and Mr. Douglas English, whose delightful work is so well 
known, has given us in his book, “ Photography for Naturalists,” 
such a full and explicit description of his methods and results 
that those who follow that wide and fascinating branch take 
his instruction as their guide. Pictorially, animals often form 
both intelligent and beautiful models. They are free, to a large 
extent, from that conscious pose which in the human model is 
often the despair of the photographer; though that they are 
entirely free from camera consciousness, or at least some notion 
that they are required to look their best, is not the opinion of 
many of those who have had much to do with the photography 
at least of dogs and horses. Mr. Wastell’s lion (facing this 
page) shows camera consciousness of another type ; but in that 
case the photographer has seized the opportunity much as one 
would expect the lion might do, should it occur. For the rest, 
he will succeed with animals best, who is enough of a photo¬ 
grapher to recognize the importance of tone value as well as 
outline, and enough of a naturalist to know how to treat his 
models so as to get their confidence and co-operation. Stirring 
a lion up with a stick is all very well for a wild beast—the 
wilder the beast the truer the portrait it may be contended— 
but domesticated animals may be expected to respond more 
readily to a gentler and more sympathetic treatment. 



'1'IH J.SVA\ 






CHAPTER XXIV 


PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 


John Richard Green on photography—Distinction between pictorial and technical 
work—The picturesque in nature—Subject and treatment—Laws of “composi¬ 
tion ”—Chiaroscuro—Breadth—Composite printing—Clouds—Aerial perspective 
— Truth of tone — Key—Early pictorial workers — Hill — Rejlander — Mrs. 
Cameron—H.P. Robinson—Davison—Emerson and “Naturalistic Photography” 
—Present position of pictorial photography—The R.P.S. and the London Salon 
of Photography—Position in the United States—The Photo Secession— 
“ Camera Work ”—Stieglitz—Position on the Continent. 

P ROCESSES and methods absorb the lion’s share of the 
photographer’s attention, and much that is written about 
photography deals with them ; but, after all, the narrowest 
technician would admit, in words at least, that these processes 
are only means to ends. The end in some cases is a faithful 
record of certain facts ; and to many this is the highest ideal 
before the photographer. To them the camera is a machine 
for making perspective representations of objects put in front 
of it, and nothing more. They are quite unable to realize that 
the nature of that rendering depends very largely upon the 
user of the camera, or that the rendering by photography 
may be absolutely false and misleading or astonishingly true, 
according to his will and his power ; and the common explana¬ 
tion of the fact that one man’s work is better than that of 
another is conveyed in some such a phrase as ** He must have 
a very fine camera.” 

Of course, this is very wide of the mark, as most of us know. 
A man does not have to use his camera long before he realizes 
that his own skill plays a very large part in the results obtained 
with it. This is so, even when the most at which he aims is 
a technically good, bright print of what was in front of his 
apparatus. Such a print is generally what the photographer 

364 


364 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


strives for in his novitiate; and it is an excellent ideal at the 
start, because its production is evidence that the simpler pro¬ 
cesses have been mastered. Such a print will not include so 
wide an angle as to convey a false impression; its definition all 
over will bear the most critical scrutiny, it will have a good 
colour, be free from blemishes of any kind, and will take full 
advantage of the capacity of the printing process to render 
gradation, its extreme high lights being almost, if not quite, 
white paper, and its deepest shadows the darkest tone the 
process will give. When this ideal has been reached, and, 
unfortunately, many photographers never attain it, easy as it is, 
many stop. It provides good firm ground for a great deal of 
useful record work. Botanists can employ their time in depict¬ 
ing flowers and leaves and stalks; naturalists poke their 
cameras at birds’ nests and arrange traps by which wild beasts 
photograph themselves ; architects and engineers protray build¬ 
ings and structures, while in conjunction with the microscope 
and other ’scopes, microscopists and other ’ists, obtain delinea¬ 
tions that can be studied at leisure. We must not overlook the 
fact, also, that an immense proportion of the portraiture that 
is done both by professional and amateur is strictly of this 
description ; and that, were it not, it would fail to satisfy those 
to whom at present it is a delight. It was John Richard Green 
who wrote that “in counteracting the tendencies, social and 
industrial, which every day are sapping the healthier family 
affections, the sixpenny photograph is doing more for the poor 
man than all the philanthropists in the world.” And the joy 
which the sixpenny—and the six-guinea, for that matter—photo¬ 
graph confers is one which is based strictly upon the technical 
fidelity with which it registers the externals of the subject. 

While no one who sees many photographs can doubt that 
this is the case, we are confronted with the fact that the 
principal photographic exhibitions are conducted on quite 
different lines. The perfect technical print, as such, is 
apparently not wanted there at all. The work which is 
spoken of most highly by the critics may not comply in any 
way with the ideal just described ; and the great photographic 
public will look, and wonder, and pass on. Here and there it 
will find a spokesman, who will talk about “ the fuzzy school,” 
“ the cult of the spoilt print,” and similar things, and the man 


PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 


365 


in the street will agree with him, though perhaps only sotto voce ; 
but the exhibitions go on their way, and the real direction of 
photography is left in the hands of those to whom many of the 
“spoilt prints” appeal. The reason for this is that every now 
and again some of these pictures do strike a sympathetic chord 
in the heart of the majority, and when they do, their superiority 
is manifest and unquestionable; and that being so, the majority 
seem content to take the rest on trust. The “ man in the 
street ” will look at one of these pictures, much like Fernando 
in the ballad, who “ knew ’twas very clever, but didn’t under¬ 
stand it.” 

The broad line of distinction between work of this kind and 
the good “ technical ” photograph is, that the former is intended 
solely to give aesthetic pleasure by conveying some feeling or 
suggestion from the artist to his public, while the latter is 
limited strictly to a statement of facts. It is the difference 
between the click of the telegraph and a sonata, between the 
price list and the poem. .Esthetic pleasure is the aim of one, 
instruction the object of the other. It is necessary to point 
out that between these two lies a vast body of photography 
which is without aim, produced simply to pass away time with 
its production. Photography is as good an amusement as any, 
and better than most; but the photographer must not confuse 
the idle snappings of a shutter with work deliberately done 
with a pictorial motive. 

The picture must have in it some of the personality of the 
artist, and not be a mere transcript of some actual arrangement 
of things in nature. Natural, in the highest sense, it must be; 
but it must be a personal or an individual rendering of nature, 
and not a diagram. The difference between the actual position 
and colour of objects as they might be ascertained with a foot- 
rule and a spectroscope, and the suggestion which the scene 
makes on any beholder, is infinite. The one has no reference 
to the spectator whatever ; it exists, not to diverge into meta¬ 
physics, irrespective of him entirely. The other must differ 
with every observer, and the impression can only be conveyed 
by an artist who can give something more than the bare 
scientific facts. 

The means by which the photographer can do this are the 
same as those at the command of the painter, subject to the 


366 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


limitations of his process. The first—the very simplest—is in 
the choice of his subject. There is a tendency on the part of 
most photographers to attach too much importance to the 
sumptuary details of the subject, and still more a tendency on 
the part of the exhibition-going public to consider those to the 
exclusion of everything else. “ I cannot see why he took that ” 
is an exhibition banality we have all heard, just as we have its 
reverse, “ What a pretty tree! ” or, “ What a fine sunset! ” 
There are some photographers whose photographic lives are 
spent in a search after effective subjects — “picturesque” 
material so arranged by the hand of nature that the photo¬ 
grapher can get his camera to some place where his view of it 
will comply with the various “laws of composition.” The 
great majority of people who visit photographic exhibitions 
—that is to say, most photographers and many others—regard 
“subject” as of the first importance; indeed, it is doubtful 
whether many of them realize that there can be any other 
pictorial qualities at all, and would be inclined to assert that a 
technically perfect rendering of a “fine subject” is the final 
aim of the picture-maker. If this were so, there would indeed 
be very little in pictorial photography. 

There are many scenes in nature which are very pleasant to 
look at. The picturesque appeals to us all, and appeals as 
strongly, or even more strongly, to the artist than to others. 
But the pleasure which is caused by a photograph of a pictur¬ 
esque spot is quite a distinct and different feeling from that to 
which a picture gives rise. The picturesque spot may provide 
painter and photographer with subjects, and may excite and 
keep up that love of nature without which no artistic work can 
be done, but the careful, painstaking copy of it is not of neces¬ 
sity a work of art. Reliance upon subjects which are of 
recognized, not to say hackneyed, sentimental interest—water¬ 
falls, Gothic ruins, rustic bridges, sunsets—is a sign of weakness 
and mediocrity. The power to see poetry in an everyday event 
or scene, and to convey to others its impression, is the highest 
possession of the artist. The fuller his vision, and the more 
complete his control over his means, the less is he trammelled 
by the feeling that it is only with certain subjects he is able to 
deal. This is a truth that comparatively few are able to appre¬ 
ciate in pictorial art, though no one doubts it in literature. 



TABLE TALK 


I'.Y HERBERT MILLS 










PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 


367 


“ He touched nothing that he did not adorn,” wrote Johnson of 
a literary artist; while Lamb was able to expose to us his 
delightful temperament, whether he wrote of the early drama¬ 
tists or of the discovery of roast pig. So the photographer, who 
wanders about seeking always for the picturesque, is putting a 
comparatively unimportant detail in the forefront of his require¬ 
ments. What he should seek is not the sentimental or the 
striking, but rather what will allow him to express his own 
personality. Precisely what this is must of necessity vary with 
the photographer. What is one man’s meat is another man’s 
poison ; and one man may find a district teeming with oppor¬ 
tunities which to another is altogether barren. The latter is 
not, of necessity, less of an artist than the former; he may 
simply be out of sympathy with his particular environment. 
Subject will never make a work of art, while treatment may 
glorify the most unpromising of subjects. It is over the recog¬ 
nition of this that five-sixths of the photographic world still 
boggles, although it bows to the decision of the remaining sixth 
as far as yielding up to it the control of its exhibitions is 
concerned. 

What, then, is this “ treatment ” ? Its externals are the 
selection of the subject, and will decide its arrangement on the 
plate, the tone values of its various parts, then definition, 
the scale of the finished picture, its key, and finally the little 
details of the print and its setting, in the shape of frame, 
mount, etc. Some of these are comparatively unimportant, 
but it is never wise to ignore them in the hope that the other 
factors will prove so powerful that the rest can be overlooked. 

This is particularly the case with the art of photography, 
because in certain directions the photographer is so much more 
limited than the painter that minor matters about which the 
painter troubles little are almost vital to him who uses the 
camera. Mounting, framing, and hanging may well be taken 
as extreme examples of this. There has been a very great 
improvement in the taste shown in these matters during the 
last twenty or thirty years, not limited by any means to 
photography. Except in such places as the Royal Academy, 
where tradition reigns supreme, it is recognized that the appeal 
and force of a picture may be increased manyfold by careful 
study of the conditions under which it is seen, while it may be 


368 


rHE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


almost neutralized by neglect of these conditions. The full 
force of this was first realized by photographers, and it was 
their example which was followed by the painters and others, 
as is shown now by almost every picture exhibition. 

We must realize in pictorial photography that we have 
much more to do than to record a natural and fortuitous 
grouping of things. The painter decides for himself what he 
shall put in his picture, and where each part shall go. The 
photographer has not such a free hand, so that composition in 
the strictest sense of the word is not open to him, and he has 
instead selection and arrangement. His picture has got to 
suggest something far more than a map of the subject before 
the camera, and to do this the very first opportunity lies in the 
decision what to include and what to leave out. 

There have been a number of well-intentioned books written 
for the guidance of the photographer on this important subject, 
some helpful, some the reverse. Most of them, from the “ Art 
Essays ” of Burnet downwards, deal with what are called the 
laws of composition, generalizations drawn from the study of 
the great masters. The study of these rules is very interesting, 
and their application to pictures an entertaining pastime, but 
it is little more. No study of the laws of composition will 
make an artist, nor is it possible to arrange a picture by care¬ 
fully selecting and placing each part in accordance with rule. 
No great picture altogether ignores them, or perhaps it would 
be truer to say that they will be found to hold good in all great 
pictures ; but it is impossible to conceive of the artist putting 
this here because of one rule or that there because of another. 
His picture was what it was because he felt what was right and 
did it, and any attempt to follow formal laws would have 
robbed the whole work of spontaneity. 

The photographer in his own sphere must do the same. If 
he does not feel the weakness of putting the dominating point 
of interest in the mathematical centre of the picture, he is not 
likely to improve his result much by remembering that there is 
a rule against it, and altering things accordingly. The intro¬ 
duction of something to balance something else already there 
and unsupported will not be a success if it is done because of a 
deliberate examination to see if the law as to balance has been 
observed. It must be put in because without it there is a 



WINGS OF THE MORNING 

BV CHAS. T. WANLESS 

















PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 


369 


distinct feeling of something wanting. There is no harm in 
turning to one of H. P. Robinson’s books or to Burnet, after¬ 
wards, if the photographer is curious to know what has been 
said about balance. 

^Composition is not to be learnt from a set of rules, but 
from the study of pictures themselves ; and in so doing it is 
far better to go to the painter than to the photographer. To 
start with, the painter has been at his art much longer ; pic¬ 
torial photography has hardly yet attained to threescore years 
and ten. Then the greatest masters have always been found 
in painting, because of its greater flexibility, and always will 
be. Cheap and good reproductions of the world’s greatest 
pictures are so easily obtainable that there is no excuse for 
ignorance of them. The best, too, are reproductions in mono¬ 
chrome ; and though much of the charm of the original is 
necessarily lost, they are, if anything, even more valuable to the 
photographer from the absence of colour to distract his atten¬ 
tion. Such a series as that issued by the Autotype Company 
will provide material for study that is unsurpassed. It may 
be said, How can such copies in themselves teach the photo¬ 
grapher anything ? How is he to get any lesson from them, 
or to know what to draw from each ? It is not possible 
to tag on to every picture an artistic moral, nor can art 
be learnt quite like the kings of Israel and Judah, or the 
French irregular verbs; but much can be done by reading 
judicious and not too didactic criticisms, by the comparison 
of one work with another, by the study of books written 
of artists by men who were in sympathy with them.' Even 
then, unless the student has an artistic temperament at first, 
he will not profit much by such labour. The germ must 
be there ; but, once there, it is susceptible of infinite cultiva¬ 
tion. It has always seemed a strange thing that many photo¬ 
graphers attempt to produce pictures by photography, when 
the slightest self-examination should surely show them that 
they are without the slightest aesthetic sense. They seem to 
regard it much as the man who didn’t know if he could play 
the fiddle because he had never tried, but, unlike that cautious 
individual, they do try, but are unconscious that they fail. 
An exhibitor, who had distinctly lofty aims in pictorial photo¬ 
graphy, once casually let fall the observation in the author’s 

2B 


370 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


hearing that he had never been in the National Gallery. He 
was a Londoner. The incompatibility of the possession of the 
qualities that would go to make him an artist, with the entire 
absence of so little interest in art as was required to take 
him to see the national collection, never seemed to strike 
him. 

The photographer does not need to learn the painter’s 
technique, but every other side of the painter’s education is 
essential to him. It is a handicap that his process is so easy, 
that, unlike the painter, in learning its details he is not at the 
same time increasing his art knowledge. In painting, these 
two things can and often do go hand-in-hand ; in photography, 
never. This accounts in great manner for the success which 
painters meet almost at once if they master the details of 
photographic technique; they are able to transfer to their new 
art much of what they learnt in the old. It is a strange 
comment on pictorial photography, that such a thing as a 
photographic art school, or even a class where photography is 
regarded throughout as a means of pictorial expression, has 
hardly been mooted. Certainly no serious attempt has ever 
been made to form one. 

Composition or selection is the first stage toward the com¬ 
pleted picture. To the photographer, it is probable that a 
picture will be more definitely and consciously suggested by 
nature, than to the painter, from the difference in their methods. 
To think out beforehand a landscape subject, and then to seek 
photographic material for it, though not so improbable as it 
seems at first thought, is rather putting the cart before the 
horse. In figure work, the photographer has fewer limitations, 
and can realize his conceptions with comparative ease, except 
in the case of the nude, which is not impossible, but almost 
impossible, photographically. 

Chiaroscuro, literally light-dark, the disposition of the 
principal masses of light and shade in the picture, is, in photo¬ 
graphy, the result of the selection of the subject. The arrange¬ 
ment of a photograph may be looked at in two lights—as a 
design in grouping of tones, and as the disposition of the most 
salient lines- The two are interconnected, but far from being 
one and the same, the tone scheme being the more important 
consideration of the two. This is altogether irrespective of the 


PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 


371 


particular things which happen to be represented in the picture; 
so much so, that it may safely be said that we should derive 
a certain pleasure from looking at the picture even if we did 
so under circumstances which prevented us altogether from 
distinguishing what any part of it was intended to represent. 

The quality known as “ breadth ” is one of which critics 
love to talk, and one which “ the man in the street/' as he 
cannot get a simple definition of it, is disposed to look upon 
as a kind of pictorial Mrs. Harris. In photography it is secured 
in more ways than one, and it may perhaps be defined nega¬ 
tively by saying that it is the characteristic quality that is not 
present in a sharply rendered, bright, clean photograph, taken 
in a good light. Its absence in the simple lens picture marks 
an essential difference between it and the visual impression. 
There are subjects in Nature, occasionally, which a simple and 
straightforward photograph will render broadly; but they are 
not common. This quality of breadth is not to be obtained 
by the use of any one photographic trick, though there are 
several whose assistance may be wanted at different times to 
secure it. An example may perhaps make this clearer. In 
one part of our subject we have a mass of foliage, which in the 
sum total of its tone is what we want in our picture; yet if we 
turn the eye directly towards it and study it, or if we photo¬ 
graph it in a straightforward manner, we shall find that that 
sum total is made up of a number of bright and dark patches 
intermingled. If these are broadly treated, we are not worried 
in the picture by their spottiness, and we represent them by 
a tone which sums up their effect en masse. To do so in such 
a case calls for direct personal interposition in some way or 
another, the actual method depending on the printing process 
employed and other circumstances. Sometimes it is possible 
to do what is necessary by focussing, keeping the important 
parts sharp, and letting the rest be diffused; but often this is 
not practicable, and handwork is a necessity. 'The appearance 
of fine definition in a picture is always a mistake. By this is 
not meant that the picture need be blurred, or even need be 
anything but critically sharp, but simply that, on looking at 
it, the thought that it is sharp should not be what it suggests. 
The actual definition has little to do with this sensation, which 
is always the outcome of a lack of breadth. A picture may 


372 THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 

have remarkable definition all over, and yet not suggest sharp¬ 
ness ; though in consequence of the difficulty of dealing with 
unnecessary details in a sharp photograph, such a case is not 
common. Still the feeling that a picture is very sharp is more 
a matter of subject and treatment generally than of mere 
definition by itself. 

The actual selection of a point of view is not the only 
control the photographer has over his subject; he can add to 
it by making his print from more than one negative, while by 
handwork in printing and on the negative he can often remove, 
or at least suppress, unnecessary details. The commonest case 
of addition is in the printing in of clouds. It is possible to do 
this effectively, as photographs have shown ; but it is very 
rarely that the result is completely successful. The more 
carefully Nature is studied, the more apparent does it become 
that every light and shadow in the landscape is directly but 
subtly connected with the forms and tone of the sky above * 
and that even if no perceptible seam divides the composite 
photograph, there is not a complete feeling of unity in the 
picture. Modern orthochromatic methods enable us to get 
clouds and landscape on the same plate, and if the cloud forms 
to which they limit us are not always exactly what we would 
have them, the gain is greater than the loss, as pictorial workers 
seem to appreciate more and more as time goes on. There 
is at least the certainty of a more complete harmony throughout, 
than when two negatives, taken perhaps under very different 
conditions, are employed. 

Closely allied to the subject of clouds in landscape is that 
of aerial perspective. Geometrical perspective the photographer 
may leave to his lens, which will give it with an accuracy which 
is the ideal of the painter and draughtsman, but aerial per¬ 
spective is far otherwise. The sense of distance is conveyed 
to the brain not merely by the scale of different objects, but 
also by their tone and colour. With the latter the photo¬ 
grapher is not so directly concerned as with the former, but 
the effect of distance on tone is a vital one to him. A dark 
object appears lighter and lighter as it recedes from the eye, 
since it is viewed through an increasing depth of illuminated 
air, and similarly, but to a less extent, a light object is darkened 
b.y distance. It is possible to imagine a world of dustless air, 


PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 


373 


or even an airless one, wherein aerial perspective was not, 
and fanciful attempts have been made in pictures to represent 
such a world, which the moon is supposed to be. A lunar 
landscape we may conceive as having no aerial perspective. 
The shadow of a distant mountain is as black as would be the 
shadow of the camera itself, and the outline of each would be 
as sharp and cutting. The background of the sky in such 
would be of inky jet, on which the stars shone out in broad 
daylight more brilliantly than they can ever be seen from the 
air-clothed earth. We are more fortunate. 

The effect of the atmosphere upon different planes of a 
picture is twofold. The more distant a dark object the lighter 
it appears in tone, and the less sharply defined are its boundaries. 
Under favourable conditions the camera may reproduce both 
these effects faithfully enough. The most perfect lens will not 
give as crisp a rendering of a distant object as it will of one 
that is close at hand, if only the exposure is long enough for 
the atmosphere to exert its influence on definition, as those 
who do much telephotography realize to their discomfort. In 
the same way we may get a print in which, without any 
conscious effort on our part, the camera has given us the effect 
of the air on the different planes: one, that is, in which there is 
the true aerial perspective. This does not always occur, by 
any means, and the photographer may find that he has got 
by some device or other to remedy the shortcomings of his 
process** As a general rule, there is a great loss of atmosphere 
in a straightforward photograph taken in clear weather. When 
the sun is low, when there is mist about, and especially when 
there is rain, the aerial perspective in the print will correspond 
far more closely to that which we perceive with the eye. 
The abuse of the orthochromatic plate and colour screen tends 
to deprive the picture of what is a valuable aid to its appeal. 
The fondness of photographers for grey day and evening 
effects is largely due to conscious or unconscious recognition 
that their process is better able to give good aerial perspective 
then than in bright sunshine. In the latter case it is almost 
always necessary to employ manipulation of some kind to 
keep the more distant planes of a tone true to the rest of the 

picture. 

No pictorial worker questions for a moment the importance 


374 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


of truth of tone, or “ tonality,” as it is sometimes called; yet 
the haziest ideas seem to prevail as to the real meaning of the 
expression. One voluminous writer has laid it down that the 
aim of the photographer is to secure a rendering in which 
the lights are as bright and the shadows as dark as they 
are in Nature; and some vague notion similar to this seems 
often to be entertained even where the photographer’s own 
work shows that unconsciously he is aiming at something very 
different. Except in some very few cases of indoor figure and 
similar work, nothing approaching such a rendering is possible. 
The photograph is generally on white paper, and its highest 
light therefore can never be lighter than plain white paper 
seen in the subdued light of a room, while his deepest shadow 
cannot be darker than the same paper blackened by the 
printing process employed carried as far as it will go. Beside 
a deep foreground shadow out-of-doors such a black is seen to 
have quite a light tone, while held against the sky, or still 
more against a splash of sunshine on a whitewashed cottage, 
the white paper in diffused light appears very dark. How 
then can we obtain truth of tone in a photograph ? 

Truth of tone has nothing whatever to do either with the 
actual lightness of the highest light in the print, or the actual 
blackness of the deepest shadows. This is a question of key 
only. By truth of tone we mean rather that between the two 
extremes, which may be as near together or as far apart as 
we choose, the other tones shall occupy positions which are re¬ 
latively correct. This may be obtained by pure photography, 
provided that the subject is one within the range of the 
plate, and the exposure given is correct. The technics have 
already been considered in Chapter X., and what is there 
written need only be supplemented by pointing out that the 
tone values in the print will only be correct provided the 
negative has not been over-developed for the printing process 
employed Under development does not affect the values, 
but only the key. Subject therefore to the orthochromatism 
of the process, tonality is dependent upon the way in which 
the exposure has been timed, and development adjusted to 
the printing process. The quality sought so painfully by the 
painter, can be attained in photography by comparatively 
simple means. A far-seeing critic has said its power of 


PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY S75 

rendering tone values correctly is the greatest and most 
valuable of the qualities of photography. 

The photographer can, to some extent, control the key of 
his picture in development, by carrying on the process or by 
cutting it short; the prevailing fault being such over-develop¬ 
ment as results in false tonality, by the closing together of the 
high lights. As these are often concentrated in the sky, where 
colour plays a large part, and where orthochromatism is very 
important, the defect is exaggerated. The selection of a 
printing process also allows the key to be controlled, as does 
the depth to which printing is carried. But all these are only 
means by which the real determining factor may be influenced 
a little one way or the other; the nature of the subject, the 
prevalence of deep shadow relieved only by bright concen¬ 
trated light, or vice versd, deciding the keynote of the whole. 
This is well seen by comparing two such pictures as “ The 
House on the Wall,” by Emmanuel (facing p. 356 ), and 
Coulthurst’s “ Evening on the Marsh ” (facing p. 384 ), which 
may be taken as representing the two extremes. 

It was by the adoption of a low key for grey day effects, 
and by their fondness for such effects, as well as by the free 
use of diffusion of focus to secure breadth, that the “ impres¬ 
sionist school,” as they were not too accurately termed, called 
down upon their heads the wrath of those who looked upon 
its definition and detail as the great merit of photography— 
as indeed it is in record work—and regarded the utilization 
of anything short of the entire scale of the printing paper 
as a crime. There still linger technicians who believe, or 
affect to believe, that a grey day effect is grey because the 
photographer could not make a negative with more contrast 
if he would ; and that the diffusion of focus in a picture is there 
because its producer could not afford a better lens, or perhaps 
did not understand the use of stops. Far be it from us to 
disturb such a peace-giving creed. It harms no living soul, 
and must be inexpressibly soothing to its possessors. But 
they are getting rarer and rarer; and the photographic 
world has come to accept sharpness or diffusion, vigour or 
delicacy, brilliancy or softness, as alike legitimate, provided 
any are employed not haphazard, but to secuie the eflect that 

is desired. 


376 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


How each of the different qualities which have been referred 
to is to be employed in any finished picture, how far that shall 
depend upon the mere guidance of the camera and what are 
called processes of pure photography, and how far upon the 
direct intervention of the photographer, each must decide for 
himself. Since, in pictorial photography, there is no direct 
attempt at imitating some particular scene in Nature, there 
need be no hesitation about using any or all the means at our 
command to produce what we want. 

Those who think that pictorial photography is a product of 
the last quarter of a century would do well to study the work 
of David Octavius Hill, a Scottish pairfter, who turned to pho¬ 
tography in 1842 , originally to help him in his painting. He 
soon became fascinated with his new method. Some of his 
portraits are not surpassed by anything that has been done 
since, although Hill had no other process than calotype at his 
command. A volume of his work is in the possession of the 
Royal Photographic Society, and his negatives are still in exist¬ 
ence, so that it is possible that one day they may be published. 
After Hill, the history of pictorial photography in England 
shows a long gap. The wet collodion process was being per¬ 
fected, and the extraordinary detail and delicacy of the pictures 
obtained with it, took photographers away on a totally different 
track. Mid-Victorian tendencies were shown as strongly in 
photography as anywhere, and able workers lost themselves in 
morasses of false sentiment, and swamps of elaborate theatrical 
unrealities. Rejlander, a Swede, who came to England after 
an adventurous career on the Continent, studied as a sculptor 
and painter, but, turning photographer, endeavoured to get a 
living by professional work, and at the same time to practise 
photography as an art. Rejlander and, later, H. P. Robinson 
carried combination printing as far as it was possible to do, one 
of the former’s most notable pictures having more than twenty 
figures, separately arranged and photographed. It is easy to 
sneer at such things now—we have travelled far since “the 
Railway Station” and “the Derby Day”—but in their time, 
and amongst their generation, these men did much to keep 
up the recognition of photography as an art, whatever may 
now be thought of the lines on which they worked. 

Contemporaneously with them lived a lady, Mrs. Julia 



A CASTLE OF ROMANCE 

BY JAMES MCKISSACK 












PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 377 

Margaret Cameron, who exercised a considerable influence 
upon those who came within her circle, and was fortunate 
enough to include in this category many of the well-known 
men of the time—amongst others, Herschel and Tennyson. 
Mrs. Cameron realized what few could then appreciate, the 
difficulty of dealing with the critically sharp definition of the 
portrait lens, and it was to meet her requirements that instru¬ 
ments were made with an adjustment by which any required 
degree of spherical aberration could be introduced at will. Her 
portrait work is characterized by a breadth and force seen in 
that of no one else since the time of Hill, and it is only by one 
or two modern workers, of whom Steichen mav be noted in 
particular, that the succession is maintained. 

Mrs. Cameron died in 1879, J* ust as dry plate was being 
perfected, and during the next few years there is little to note 
in pictorial photography, except that the modern amateur 
movement was gradually gathering force. By 1885 it was in 
full swing; photography had once more become a craze, and 
interest was manifested in it by thousands. The Camera Club 
was founded, and in its early days was a social centre for 
pictorial workers, although these were only a small minority of 
its members. 

Photography was now to feel the effects of the sweeping 
change in art which characterized the last quarter of the nine¬ 
teenth century. In 1888, Dr. P. H. Emerson published 
“ Naturalistic Photography,” a work which has been compared 
to a bombshell dropped into the midst of a tea-party. Mani¬ 
festations of the change, as far as pictures were concerned, were 
shown at the exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society in 
1900. Davison’s “Onion Field” took the photographic world 
by storm. Photography had taken little count of the trend 
of art, and when Emerson and Davison drew attention to it 
with a jerk, old-fashioned toilers at composite photography 
.found the ground moving from under their feet, and their palace 
of art, a respectable stucco-fronted mansion, collapsing over 
their heads. The earthquake passed away, but its effects 
remain to this day. Impressionism was to have its place in 
photography as in the other graphic arts; and the convention¬ 
alities and unreality of thirty years were left behind in three. 
“Naturalism” was the text preached from by Davison, 


378 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Emerson, and others, and their influence was immediately seen 
in exhibitions, both in subject and in treatment. Davison had 
gone to the Essex marshes for some of his best-known pictures, 
and a weekly exodus towards Canvey Island and the Black- 
water followed, which must have had its effect upon the 
dividends of the Great Eastern Railway. It followed that 
going down into Essex, photographers must need discover 
Constable’s country, and the discovery was not without its 
result on English photographic landscape. The “Mud Flat 
School,” as it was termed, broadened in its views until its name 
ceased to be appropriate. 

The characteristic of present-day photographic work in this 
country is its atmosphere, its appreciation of the beauty of 
cloud form, and the reliance often placed upon the sky to 
provide the real subject of the picture. These, of course, 
have always been essential features of British landscape art, 
and in this photography is at one with painting. But medio¬ 
crity seems to be the note to-day, and the centre of interest, 
as far as pictorial photography is concerned, has shifted across 
the Atlantic. No one seeing our exhibitions year by year 
can fail to observe that, while the number of workers of some 
note has increased, there has been no increase in the interest 
of the pictures shown. 

Some have explained it as levelling up, others have called 
it stagnation. Certain it is that the leaders of twenty 
years ago have been caught up by those who followed them ; 
but it is not so easy to determine whether this is due to the 
progress of the one or the lack of movement of the other. 
The great increase in numbers has been brought about by the 
extraordinary simplicity and ease of modern methods, which 
have attracted thousands to photography who would never 
have thought of it otherwise. Here and there amongst the 
number have been some who realized that the amusement of 
an idle hour might be made much more, and that in the 
camera they might have a means of expression, which lack of 
inclination or lack of training had prevented them from finding 
in the pencil. 

The “ Linked Ring ” was an association of pictorial photo¬ 
graphers, mostly British, which took its origin in a personal 
squabble in the Royal Photographic Society, but was inevitable 


PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 


379 


in some form or another. It held an annual exhibition—“ The 
Photographic Salon ”—but eventually internal dissensions and 
a general lowering of its aims and ideals led to its collapse, 
some of its members forming a new association, and the others 
remaining more or less unattached. The “London Salon of 
Photography” represents the more academical side of the 
former “ Linked Ring,” but the causes which brought the older 
body into existence have ceased to be; and the “ London 
Salon ” finds its chief excuse in the apathy of the Royal 
Photographic Society. This latter also holds an annual ex¬ 
hibition. The two shows are to a certain extent rivals, and 
are open simultaneously. The older body, however, has to 
cater for more than pictorial photographers only, and its 
pictorial section is only a section, though the most important one, 
of the entire exhibition. There is much to be done both in 
Britain and on the Continent to secure the inclusion of pictorial 
photography in the category of art; and in this, as might have 
been expected, the New World has taken the lead. 

In the United States the last few years have witnessed a 
considerable change in the attitude of the art world generally, 
but of the painter more especially, towards photography. Much 
of this has been due to the publication there, by Mr. Stieglitz, 
of a series of quarterly volumes, beside which nothing else can 
be placed. First as “Camera Notes,” the official organ of the 
New York Camera Club, and then as “ Camera Work,” an 
independent publication altogether, this series, by familiarizing 
the art world with the work of photographers, by means of the 
most careful facsimiles in photogravure, and by its persistent 
teaching, has had its effect. The loosely formed union of 
photographers calling itself the “ Photo Secession,” as indicating 
its independence and general attitude, controlled and directed 
by the same individual, has tended to the same end Apart 
altogether from the particular pictorial work which the members 
of the “ Photo Secession ” have achieved, we must put the fact 
that it has come to be regarded by the Painters’ Societies and by 
other bodies of artists as one of themselves ; the Secessionists 
have had art galleries placed at their disposal in different 
cities, and have obtained a recognition for their art, which 
it has certainly nbt received elsewhere. To no one man can 
this be exclusively attributed, but the lion’s share of the labour 


380 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


has undoubtedly fallen on Alfred Stieglitz, as organizer, editor, 
and author, and it is to him that we turn to know how such a 
result has been achieved. He has been good enough to send 
us a note, which he entitles, “ Some of the Reasons.” It is 
perhaps best printed here exactly as he sends it 

“SOME OF THE REASONS 

“All movements that have exercised any influence on the 
moral and artistic advancement of mankind have been actuated 
by abiding faith and hope in the hearts of the leaders. The 
mass is always quick to enthusiasm, but, like the Banderlog, 
just as quick to lose faith and to worship strange gods. Each 
revolution of thought has been founded by the fanatic, bigoted, 
and single-minded belief in its principles, which through thick 
and thin held sway in the minds of the very few. 

“This principle has held true in the revolution which has 
convulsed the American photographic world for the past years. 
And to-day, when the photographic world has acknowledged, 
and the art world is in the act of acknowledging, the achieve¬ 
ments of American photography, it is interesting to analyze 
the causes which have led up to these results. In photography, 
as in every other department of human endeavour, individual 
ambitions are the prime causes which lead to sporadically 
successful exploits; but it requires something more than 
isolated achievements to accomplish the aims of a radical 
movement. In their clear insight and recognition of this 
principle lay the power of the leaders of American photo¬ 
graphy. While ready to acknowledge the successes of the 
individual, they nevertheless insisted upon a certain subordina¬ 
tion of the claims and ambitions of the one, in the interests of 
the cause which they believed in, fearing lest such limited and 
circumscribed views of the functions of photography, as would 
necessarily be held by the isolated worker, would result in mak¬ 
ing photography narrow and provincial—stifling the universal 
spirit which is essential to the life of every art. It was because 
of their adherence to this rule of partial suppression of the in¬ 
dividual that the leaders were subjected to the reproach and 


PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 


381 


misunderstanding of those who would serve only their personal 
ambitions, and of those who failed to understand, because they 
lacked the knowledge, or were constitutionally disabled from 
appreciating, the motives of these leaders. 

“ It may be that the world’s approval of the bull-dog 
tenacity of those who do not know when they are beaten was 
an element in the beginning of the success which followed the 
strict adherence to their rule. A certain respect was ultimately 
gained among those who began to feel that there must be some 
kernel of truth in a faith for which men were willing to sacrifice 
so much, and a reaction from the blind rage of the mob began 
to set in. Undazzled by growing successes, the American 
pictorialists, as a body—of course, there were always some 
stragglers—continued to tread the steep and narrow path which 
led towards the heights of their ideals, and to-day, while they 
have reached above the clouds, they distinctly realize that the 
pinnacle is still far above them. 

“ Of course, we in America fully acknowledge that in other 
countries there are enthusiastic workers who have done very 
much towards enhancing the dignity of pictorial photography, 
and even bodies of workers who have striven towards a goal ; 
but it is borne in upon us that their spirit of loyalty and enthu¬ 
siasm has been directed towards organizations, rather than 
towards broad and universal ideals. True to the American 
spirit, of which it has been said that even its transcen¬ 
dentalism and Puritanism have been tempered by practical 
considerations, there has been an incidental material side to 
all this, which the American worker fully realizes. Though 
the individual American photographer was subordinated to 
the success of the cause, yet, in its success, the individual 
was enabled to achieve, and did achieve, a far greater distinc¬ 
tion than could ever have been his portion if he had been 
compelled to rely upon his unaided effort; and thus, while 
individual effort, ability, and talent have made possible the 
results of the American School, yet the recognition which is 
being accorded to photography, as a new and additional means 
of art expression, could not have been accomplished by the 
work of any one, no matter how inspired. As an example of 
this, there can be cited the accomplishments of one American, 
a painter-photographer, whose work has succeeded in clinching 


382 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


the conviction, photographic and pictorial, that the claims of 
photography were entitled to serious consideration. Yet had 
the movement not prepared the way for an appreciation and 
active encouragement of his talents, they would have excited 
but sporadic and passing interest as the clever manifestations 
of a painter. 

“The ultimate results no wise man will attempt to prophesy, 
but the future can in a measure be anticipated by an analysis 
of the present and the past ; and, taking the accomplishments 
of the past few years into consideration, it would be folly to 
limit the possibilities. But even if its future strides be not as 
great as those just taken, yet there is already apparent in 
America one result which is fraught with great promise. 
Through the medium of carefully selected and restricted ex¬ 
hibitions there is being placed before such members of the 
younger generation, as are endowed with artistic feelings and 
desires, the ripest past and present achievements of photo¬ 
graphy, and the art student of to-day, who will be the painter 
of to-morrow, is learning, before prejudices and cant have 
narrowed his artistic soul, that photography not only may be 5 
but actually is, one medium of individual expression. 

“ Alfred Stieglitz ” 


CHAPTER XXV 

EXHIBITIONS AND SOCIETIES 


The display of prints—Albums—Exhibiting—The question of size—Framing— 
Passe partouts —Mounting in the American manner—The autumn and winter 
exhibitions—Copyright—How to register a photograph—Selling the right to 
reproduce—Prices of pictures—Prints suitable for reproduction—Amateur or 
professional—Photographic societies—Postal clubs—Journals and text-books— 
Photographic classes—City and Guilds examinations. 

T HERE are very few photographers who pursue their 
hobby for themselves alone, irrespective of the pleasure 
which they can bestow on their friends by its exercise, and 
therefore it is only in due course that, after dealing with the 
production of the photographs, we come to the question of 
their exhibition, under which heading may fairly be grouped 
all the different methods by which they are shown to others. 
If he had to please himself only, the photographer in many 
cases, we expect, would be satisfied with the negative, and 
instead of making prints from it would derive meditative 
gratification from the thought of the mighty pictorial possi¬ 
bilities it contained. But if good intentions form a satisfactory 
pavement for a well-trodden highway, they are a poor covering 
for the walls, either of a home or of an exhibition gallery; and 
the camera worker therefore has to realize his, as far as he 
can, if his friends are to judge of his work, or are to share in 
the pleasant memories which his prints revive. 

The most popular application of the camera is as a travel 
companion, and it is in the results which we bring back from a 
trip to the seaside or to foreign lands that the greatest number 
of its users find the greatest pleasure. But if these are to be 
seen under reasonably favourable conditions, it will never do 
to show them as a tattered envelope full of dog-eared, un¬ 
mounted silver prints, thumb-marked and pocket worn. Prints 

3 8 3 


384 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


that are worth showing to any one are worth careful trimming 
and mounting, and if they deal with a journey, or otherwise 
fall into a natural series, they should be so arranged. The 
slip-in album that is so popular is a device for sacrificing 
quality to ease. A packet of cut pieces of P.O.P. can be 
bought and printed, and the prints slipped into the album 
without any trimming whatever. Some people who use this 
device take the trouble to put a drop of gum where it will not 
show, to hold the print in position ; but most photographers 
seem to prefer not to do so, that the album may have its 
contents changed as often as they like. The practice is a 
very slovenly one, and nobody who takes a pride in his work 
would resort to one of these albums—except to hold a set of 
prints as an index or catalogue of negatives. For not only do 
the prints shift about behind the opening, but this shows almost 
the entire surface of each print, and so allows no selective 
trimming at all. 

The method by which the print is trimmed to shape has 
been described in Chapter XIV.; but what are we to say of its 
application ? How many photographers realize the power they 
possess of improving the arrangement of the picture by the 
judicious use of the knife, pruning away all that is unnecessary 
or antagonistic to the composition, and placing the leading 
features in the most effective position with reference to the 
borders ? This work is done by the painter as he paints, since 
his method does not compel him to fill a canvas of some pre¬ 
determined size with all that is before him, on a predetermined 
scale. He paints what he wants on the scale he wants, and 
leaves the rest. Not so the photographer. It would be far 
more troublesome for him to omit what he did not want than 
to include it, and his chief aim at first therefore is to take care 
that all he will want for his picture is on his plate; and, if he 
can, to take care that it is as large as the plate will reasonably 
admit. But thanks to enlarging processes this latter is not z*-. 
all a rigid requirement, and a picture of the size of two or three 
square feet is easily made from a little bit of a plate not much 
larger than a postage stamp, if the original negative is a good 
one. The selection of that bit from the entire plate is best 
made afterwards, when it can be studied leisurely in its 
monochrome rendering and the right way up. A mounted 


EVENING ON THE MARSH 

BY S. L. COLTHURST 





















































EXHIBITIONS AND SOCIETIES 


385 


print is best for the purpose, and then with a couple of L- 
shaped cards we can try the effects of different trimming, 
until at last we settle on that which gives what we think the 
best result. And if we value our photographic reputation, that 
and that only will constitute the print as shown to any one 
else. 

For exhibition at home, the album is the most convenient 
arrangement. The slip-in album has been denounced, but 
there are other forms with some of its advantages, without any 
of its disadvantages. There are albums with plain leaves of 
any tint we care to select, which leaves are hinged and perforated 
and held into their covers by ribbons or laces. These allow 
the prints to be mounted on the loose leaves, and dried under 
pressure, so as to come out quite flat, and then permit them to 
be arranged and rearranged in the albums as often as we like. 
Moreover, if we made a mess of one of the pages, it does not 
form a blot on the entire book, as it does when the prints are 
stuck into a made-up album. For odd prints another popular 
type may be styled the higgledy-piggledy album. In this kind 
of album we have large cardboard pages, interleaved with sheets 
of toned paper with cut-out openings of different sizes and 
shapes. We can fit prints to the openings, and then mount 
them on the card so that they appear ip the proper places 
behind them. 

The “album de luxe,” or the highest outcome of the col¬ 
lected photograph, is seen when each print is made on platinum 
paper with a broad white margin. Quarter-plate negatives 
may be printed on half-plate, or, better still, on whole plate 
paper, each being masked so that exactly the portion selected 
is shown, and on exactly the right part of the paper. To do this 
a mask is made for each negative of broad strips of black paper, 
just touched with gum at its extremities. The position of the 
full-sized piece of paper is marked on this mask in pencil, so 
that when the negative is placed on a piece of plain glass in 
the printing-frame, and the mask is put on top of it, we see 
exactly where to put our paper down. If the sky of the 
negative is very dense, or if there are very white objects right 
against the line of the mask, it is best when the print is 
finished to hold mask and paper firmly with one hand, to open 
the printing-frame and slip out the negative with the other, 

2C 


386 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


and then, for a moment, to expose the paper to light behind 
the mask. A very brief exposure suffices and marks the 
boundary of the picture all round. Nothing looks so bad in 
this style of printing as a blank white in the picture, running 
without an indication of a dividing line into the white margin. 
When a set of such prints has been made, they may be 
arranged in order and sent to be bound up into an album, 
with a neatly written title-page, and then form the finest record 
of a tour which any photographer could wish to possess. 
The cost of binding depends, of course, upon the quality of the 
work put into it, and the style. When done in full morocco and 
in the best manner, this method of keeping prints is necessarily 
an expensive one, but the result is certainly unrivalled. 

Besides the collection of prints into albums, the photo¬ 
grapher will, perhaps, wish to try his skill with individual 
prints against those of his fellows in a photographic exhibition. 
Exhibiting is very fine practice, even if it does not lead to 
a collection of plaques and medals. In fact, it is almost better 
for the photographer if it does not, as it shows that he is 
competing amongst his fellows, or, at least, not amongst his 
inferiors. 

The great advantage of occasional exhibiting is that it 
enables the photographer to see for himself how his work looks 
alongside that of others. To secure this he must exhibit at 
shows which he can himself visit. If he sends occasionally to 
one or other of the big exhibitions, he may be fortunate enough 
to get a candid and competent criticism of it, but this is not 
very likely. Detailed criticism of exhibitions is now seldom 
published in the photographic press ; while the review in the 
local paper, seldom written with any knowledge of photography 
at all, has little or no value. 

An award, at the best, expresses the opinion of the judge, or, 
perhaps, marks a compromise reached by a board of judges ; 
but if the award is made by a judge who is known to be a 
competent critic—not at all the same thing as a successful 
exhibitor—some value may attach to it. At least the exhibitor 
will feel that he has succeeded in getting recognition from one 
who has some claim to be regarded as an authority. 

In recent years there has been a tendency to revert to rather 
smaller sizes than were customary at exhibitions, the pictures 


EXHIBITIONS AND SOCIETIES 387 

generally ranging from half-plate to 15 x 12 inches, At the 
more important shows there are seldom more than two or 
three which are smaller than whole plate; but at the various 
exhibitions held by local societies, the size ranges down to 
quarter-plate or smaller. For a picture that is to be sent to one 
of the leading exhibitions, 10 x 8 or thereabouts might be 
selected as quite large enough. As, nowadays, this will almost 
inevitably be an enlargement, the exhibitor can select the size 
irrespective of that of the original negative. Many of the 
pictures at the leading shows are enlargements from 3J x 2J 
with negatives, or smaller. 

An excellent custom is growing up, of requiring exhibitors 
to send in their pictures unframed. In some cases they are 
asked to use plain mounts of certain standard sizes, a choice of 
two or three being offered. The exhibition authorities display 
them by putting them on the wall covered with sheets of glass, 
held in position by pins. This departure has had a marked 
effect upon the work sent in. The cost of framing a number of 
pictures, and packing and despatching them so that they may 
reach the exhibition in safety was no trifle. We know one 
exhibitor who put this down, in his own case, at ;£ioo a year. 
This expense limited the number of pictures sent in by any one 
competitor to a very few, and these of his own selection. A 
man is notoriously a bad judge of his own work : it is one of 
the most frequent comments on private view day, that the 
selecting committee has taken the poorest of any particular 
entry and rejected the best. The acceptance of unframed 
exhibits at least enables the exhibitor to send several, where 
before he might only have sent one ; and so allows the selecting 
committee greater scope. There is a tendency amongst smaller 
exhibitions to follow this practice; or when they do not do so, 
to favour the simple and comparatively inexpensive form of 
protection known as passe partout. 

The passe partout is not only a very economical method 
of showing a photograph, it is often extremely effective. The 
name is given to a card or mount, without any wooden frame, 
which is attached to the glass by means of strips of paper or 
linen at the edges. Rings are attached by loops of tape to 
the back of the card, by which to hang up the print. Materials 
can be bought for making these passe partouts , but there is 


388 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


no need to limit one’s self to these; and it is better, as far as 
final effect is concerned, to let the binding of the passe partout 
form part of the scheme of mounting. A stout card should 
be cut to the size of the glass, and the print with its paper 
mount may be fastened to this. Strips of the same paper, or 
of some other suitable tint, are carefully cut with a sharp knife 
and stuck to the glass, so as to form a margin of equal width 
all round. The paper may project 2 or 3 inches beyond the 
glass with advantage. Thin smooth paste is an excellent 
material for the purpose, and the strips should be allowed to 
dry, firmly adhering to the glass, before the print is put in 
position. It is then laid face downwards on the glass, and the 
paper, being smoothly folded back, is pasted down on the back 
of the card, the rings are attached by loops of tape glued to 
the card also, and the back neatly finished off by covering it 
with a piece of brown paper pasted on. Not only is this 
method cheap and very effective, but it reduces the size of the 
case when pictures are to be sent away, and reduces carriage also. 
It is often possible to send prints so mounted by parcel post. 

A card backing was mentioned in the previous paragraph, 
because the passe partout is oftenest used in conjunction with 
what is called “the multiple method” of mounting. In this 
method the print is dried under pressure so as to be quite fiat, 
and is then carefully trimmed to size. It is next touched at 
its two top corners with some adhesive—seccotine answers 
very well, or Higgins’ mountant can be used—and is stuck on 
a piece of paper of a suitable tint. This paper is then trimmed 
down to some pre-arranged size, and it in turn is stuck on 
another paper by its top corners. This paper is trimmed down 
and mounted in turn on another, and so on. In this way 
the print is seen surrounded by a series of tints of different 
widths. By using one or more pieces of white paper, and 
trimming these only the slightest bit larger than the piece 
above them, we can get the effect of a fine white line; a dark 
line can be got in a similar way. This method is the most 
effective that can be devised, but is a snare for those who 
have not sufficient taste to use it successfully. Even when the 
different papers employed harmonize well enough, they may 
be used in such a way as to attract attention from the print 
to the method of mounting. The best papers to use for this 


EXHIBITIONS AND SOCIETIES 389 

mounting are made primarily for book covers, but some of the 
brown and grey papers used for wrapping are very effective. 
This method is now seldom used except in quite a simple form, 
employing two or at most three pieces of paper. With 

more, and with varied papers, it easily becomes obtrusively 
elaborate. 

The photographer who has succeeded in making prints 
that please himself, and is anxious to try his fortune at 
exhibitions, has plenty to choose from. Most of them are 
held during the winter months, the ball being opened by the 
two London shows, the “ Royal ” and the “ London Salon,” 
which run about contemporaneously in September, and should 
certainly be seen and studied by the aspirant. At that time 
lists of forthcoming exhibitions with open classes are published 
in the photographic journals, with the names and addresses of 
the secretaries; and a note to these will bring entry forms and 
full particulars. In filling up the form, the column “price if 
for sale ” will, perhaps, puzzle most budding exhibitors more 
than any other. The usual price for an exhibition print, 
including the frame, varies from one guinea to five, beyond 
which very few are ever sold. A print io X 8 to 15 x 12 by 
an unknown exhibitor is not extravagantly dear or ridiculously 
cheap at a couple of guineas. 

When a photograph is taken, a copyright in that photograph 
comes into existence, and is vested in the person taking the 
photograph, except in the case of work done to the order of any 
one else, as when one’s photograph is taken by a professional 
photographer in the ordinary course of business. In that case 
the copyright belongs to the person ordering the photograph, 
unless there is an agreement to the contrary. The Copyright 
Act which came into force on July 1, 1912, did away with all 
necessity for registration or any other formality of any kind ; 
it made the photograph copyright from the moment of its 
production. The copyright lasts for fifty years from the 
making of the negative; while photographs made before the 
act came into operation, whether they were registered or not, 
were similarly protected for any balance of the fifty years there 
might yet be to run, the act being retrospective in this matter. 

This constitutes a great advance on any protection that had 


390 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


gone before. There is no absolute compulsion to mark a 
photograph “ Copyright ”; but this should always be done 
before a photograph is allowed to go out of its author’s hands, 
and the name and address of the author should also be given. 
The importance of this is evident. If an infringer proves that 
at the time of infringement he was not aware, and had no 
reasonable ground for suspecting that the work was copyright, 
one cannot maintain an action for damages against him, but 
merely one for an injunction to restrain from further infringe¬ 
ment. Another important feature of the new act is that all 
transfers of copyright must be in writing. 

The amateur photographer is sometimes in doubt as to how 
far he is safe in copying any work privately, for his own 
purposes or for amusement, and there seems to be an impres¬ 
sion that so long as it is not done for sale it is not against the 
law. This is not so. The act defines copyright very explicitly, 
as “ the sole right to produce or reproduce the work or any sub¬ 
stantial part thereof in any material form whatsoever.” Another 
point is that it is the photograph and not the subject which is 
copyright; that is to say that while one may not photograph 
a copyright photograph, there is nothing to prevent the original 
subject being photographed again. Nor is any restraint im¬ 
posed upon the photographer of buildings, sculpture, etc., 
permanently situate in a public place or building. Provided 
the photography can be done without the photographer tres¬ 
passing, he may photograph what he likes. There have been 
cases in which the owners of property have caused it to be 
photographed and the photographs copyrighted, in the belief 
that by doing so they secured a copyright in the building 
itself; but this was a mistake. The act makes this point 
quite plain. 

As far as dealings with a professional photographer are 
concerned, any one ordering and paying for his portrait becomes 
the original owner of the copyright in it, and can permit any 
one to copy or reproduce it without any reference to whoever 
took it. He can also prevent its exhibition by the photographer 
in his window or show-case. 

When prints are sent to a newspaper or magazine tor 
publication, it should be made quite clear that they are sent 
for a specific purpose and for one publication only; or that 


EXHIBITIONS AND SOCIETIES 


391 


if they are used more than once a fresh fee will be required. 
The customary fee for a print and the right to reproduce it up 
to, say, about half-plate is half a guinea ; but if the print has 
any special interest of any kind its value may be much higher, 
and the half-guinea should be looked upon as a minimum. 
For photographs of special value, or of an unique character, the 
photographer should consider whether he is likely to make most 
by selling a print to one paper exclusively, at an enhanced price 
in consequence, or by selling it at a low figure to all who will 
take it. 

It is usual to submit prints in the form of enlargements on 
glossy bromide or gas-light paper, as size (up to whole plate at 
any rate) seems to count. Platinotypes, well-toned p.o.p. prints 
and carbon prints of a black colour, all make excellent blocks. 
Bromide enlargements on rough papers, especially when toned, 
and rough surface sepia or colour carbon prints are not suitable 
for reproduction in the ordinary way, nor are blue prints. 

Some w r orkers who have taken up photography merely as a 
hobby have been able to turn it into a remunerative occupation 
by the sale of prints for reproduction ; as, since the half-tone 
process has leapt into universal use, the call for photographs 
wherewith to meet its insatiable demands has grown enormously. 
This has now become a recognized branch of journalism, and 
must be approached in the same way as any other. That is to 
say, the papers to which prints are to be sent must be noted, 
and their needs studied. It is a waste of time to send prints 
closely similar to those that have just appeared, and almost as 
great a mistake to send prints of a character totally different 
from those usually employed by the paper in question. The 
photographer must be prepared for rebuffs, and will want 
patience and photographic skill; but over and above this he 
will need what has been called the “ journalistic instinct,” to 
teach him what of the things which lie all about his daily path 
he can use as subjects for his camera. The least likely ground 
of success is the photography of great events, Royal visits, 
horse or boat races, and so on, which are arranged beforehand, 
and at which many of the illustrated papers concerned are 
represented. 

v Is the photographer who makes money in this way an 
amateur or a professional ? asks the reader. Fortunately for 
photography the distinction between these two classes has 


392 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


never been drawn by anybody whose decision or example is 
of importance. The great photographic exhibitions do not 
recognize it at all, membership and fellowship of the Royal 
Photographic Society is open to all photographers ; most 
Photographic Societies have followed suit, and it is only here 
and there that the professional photographer is excluded from 
them, and then only by implication. Even then the con¬ 
struction of the word “amateur” would be broad enough to 
include any photographer who did not actually have a shop, 
showcase, or professional studio. The leading society has set 
an excellent example in this respect, and no one need hesitate 
to sell a photograph for fear of disqualifying himself as an 
“ amateur ” ; the competitions or exhibitions where any dis¬ 
tinction is drawn being very few and quite unimportant. This 
is only a natural outcome from the fact that, contrary to the 
case in other branches of w r ork, the practice of photography as 
a profession is not any great help to success at photographic 
exhibitions. The professional photographer has to please his 
customers, and it is no exaggeration to say that the class of 
work which the public demands from him is not calculated to 
appeal to the judges at a photographic exhibition, nor would 
it be likely even to secure admission where there was any 
selecting committee. The professional has therefore to alter 
his aims and even his methods, if he would compete with other 
photographers; and the change is so great that his practice of 
photography, so far from being a help, is positively a hindrance, 
as far as the best exhibitions are concerned. 

In Great Britain and Ireland there are now some two or 
three hundred societies and clubs of photographers; there are 
about one-fourth that number in the United States, and a fair 
number elsewhere. Some of these societies provide dark-room 
accommodation for their members, but most of them limit their 
activities to meetings once a week, or less frequently, and to 
excursions or outings during the summer months. Joining one 
of these societies is the easiest and quickest way to become 
familiar with the technics of elementary photography. Most of 
their members are beginners, or have been beginners not very 
long ago, and there is a co-operative spirit abroad in the clubs, 
which is very pleasant and helpful. As far as pictorial w'ork is 
concerned, the postal clubs are perhaps the most useful. Each 


EXHIBITIONS AND SOCIETIES 


393 


of these has a circulating portfolio, to which the members 
contribute prints and a criticism of the prints of their fellow- 
members. I he helpfulness of these clubs is shown by the 
fact that almost all prominent exhibitors have reached their 
position vid a postal club. 

In this country the amateur photographer has a weekly 
magazine which caters for his requirements, reproducing the 
leading pictures from the exhibitions, criticising them, holding 
periodical competitions and exhibitions, and generally acting as 
the organ of the pursuit. The Amateur Photographer and 
Photography , as it is now called, which is edited by the author, 
is an amalgamation of the four separate weekly journals which 
originally shared the ground amongst them. Formerly there 
were monthly magazines also, of amateur interest, but these 
have vanished. 

Most of the larger Polytechnics in the big cities have their 
photographic classes, and, as a rule, these are open for a small 
fee to any one, whether intending to pursue photography for a 
living or only for a hobby. Each year the City and Guilds of 
London Technical Institute holds examinations, both theoretical 
and practical, which are open to students who can manage to 
attend at an examination centre. Such classes and examina¬ 
tions form a very sound basis for the photographer, but while 
going far beyond anything that is needed to produce exhibition 
work, or to follow pictorial photography, they in no sense offer 
anything of an art training to the student, who therefore has 
to approach pictorial photography far less well equipped than 
any one following one of the other graphic arts. In the absence, 
therefore, of a distinct taste for the scientific side of photography, 
the classes are not of much service; and all that is necessary can 
be learned at a photographic society, or from some friend who 
will act as teacher. Many do not even have this help, but pick 
up what technical knowledge they require from the manufacturers’ 
booklets or their weekly paper. The processes have been so far 
simplified that quite sufficient information can be got in this way 
for a start ; and practice thereafter will soon build upon that 
foundation. 


CHAPTER XXVI 

PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE PRINTING PRESS 

Printing is of two kinds, intaglio and relief—Photogravure—Laying the ground— 
Printing the resist—Etching—Rotary Photogravure—Rendering half-tone—Line 
processes—The half-tone process—Ruled screens—Woodburytype—Collotype. 

S OME of the earliest photographic experiments had for 
their object the improvement of printing processes, and 
the connection between the camera and the printing press has 
been continuous. It remained for what is called the “ half¬ 
tone ” process, which has been perfected within the last ten or 
fifteen years, to unite photography to ordinary printing so 
closely that it is now the exception for a book or newspaper to 
be free from photographic illustration. 

Before we can understand how a photograph can be used 
by the printer, we must realize the distinction which exists 
between two fundamentally different printing processes. The 
type with which this book is printed, as every one knows, has 
its printing face standing up above the rest, so that when the 
inking rollers pass over it, the ink is left on that face, and 
is then transferred to the paperin other words, it is printed 
from a surface in relief. Nearly all printing is now done in this 
manner. But there is a different plan—“ intaglio printing.” 
In this case the parts which are to carry the ink, instead of 
standing up above the rest are hollowed out by hand or by 
photography on a smooth plate of copper. The whole is covered 
with a particular kind of ink, the raised surface is then wiped 
quite clean, and a sheet of paper is placed on it and subjected 
to great pressure. When the paper is taken off it carries with 

394 



THE DOWNFALL PEAK OF DERBYSHIRE 








PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE PRINTING PRESS 895 


it the ink from the hollows of the plate, and so bears an impres¬ 
sion of whatever was on it. In one case we see the ink is 
carried on a surface raised above the rest, in the other in 
hollows sunk below the general level. Both methods can be 
illustrated with an ordinary rubber stamp. Using it in the 
customary way, we are printing from it as a book or newspaper 
is printed—letterpress printing, as it is called ; if we press it 
firmly on a well-inked pad, and then dab it gently on paper 
until the surface of the letters is free from ink, we shall then 
be able to obtain a negative impression of the hollows between 
the letters by pressing it very heavily on a clean piece of paper 
—a method which might be taken as representing intaglio 
printing. 

Etchings, “ copper plates ” and “ photogravure/’ are 
examples of intaglio printing, the latter being strictly a 
photographic process. A word of caution is necessary against 
confusing “ photogravure,” a term limited to intaglio printing 
from plates prepared by photography, with photo-engraving, 
which may be used for all methods, but is generally limited 
to the manufacture of process blocks for printing in relief. 

Photogravure, which we owe principally to Fox Talbot, 
at one time promised to become an amateur’s process, and 
quite a number of workers were etching copper plates from 
their negatives. It was “ tricky ” in its behaviour, but very 
fascinating, and some fine results were shown ; but from the 
elaborate apparatus required if the amateur were to print 
from his plates as well as to etch them, or from the cost of 
copper-plate printing if the work were put out, photogravure 
seems to have lapsed into the keeping of professional en¬ 
gravers. The process is still unrivalled as far as quality of 
result is concerned, both for delicacy of gradation and rich¬ 
ness of the deeper tones, the latter quality being due to the 
fact that in a photogravure print the surface of the shadows 
is a cast in ink of the hollow in the copper plate, which hollow 
has a peculiar and characteristic texture. 

The process of making a photogravure plate is not very 
elaborate, although it calls for a good deal of skill. The first 
stage is the preparation of a reversed transparency ; that is 
to say, the kind of transparency obtained by the single transfer 
carbon process, using glass instead of paper as the support 


396 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


If the plate is to be larger or smaller than the original negative 
the transparency must be made in the camera or enlarger, 
and a lantern or an ordinary dry plate may be used, but a 
carbon transparency is generally preferred. When this has 
been made it may be touched up, spotted, or otherwise 
modified at will, as although a positive image, it is to act 
as “ the negative ” from which to make the plate. 

A polished sheet of copper, of a special and very pure 
kind, is taken, and has its surface treated in some way to 
give it a very fine grain or tooth of some substance which 
will not be attacked by the liquid used to etch the copper 
itself. Fine bitumen dust is generally employed, and as the 
coating must be exceedingly fine and even it is applied in a 
piece of apparatus called a dusting-box. This is a large 
wood box swinging on trunnions, with a door in one side close 
to the bottom of the box. A quantity of powdered bitumen 
or of resin is kept in the box. When a plate is to be prepared 
the box is turned over and over a few times, so as to shake 
up the dust, and is then fixed vertically. After waiting some 
seconds the door is opened and the plate on a suitable holder 
is inserted and left for the finer dust, with which the air in 
the box is still filled, to settle upon it. Then on taking out 
the plate, using great care not to disturb its coating, it can 
be heated gently so as just to melt the bitumen and cause 
it to adhere to the copper, but without making it so hot as 
to allow the particles to coalesce. This operation is called 
“ laying the ground.” 

Using the transparency as a negative, a print is made on 
carbon tissue, a special form of which is supplied for this work. 
This print, which is called the “ resist,” is laid down upon the 
prepared copper plate and is developed there with warm water 
in the usual way. This is allowed to dry, and then the back 
of the copper plate and the margins of the picture are protected 
with varnish and it is ready for etching. Etching is generally 
done by means of solutions of iron perchloride, in which the 
plate is immersed and rocked, being watched the while The 
perchloride makes its way through the film of gelatine forming 
the print, passing quickest through those parts, of course, 
where the film is thinnest. Here, therefore, the copper is most 
eaten away, and will hold the most ink when it is printed; 


PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE PRINTING PRESS 397 


these must be the darkest parts of the picture, hence the 
necessity for printing from a positive and not a negative. 
The carbon print on the copper is a negative, and it is possible 
to watch the progress of the etching through its film. Different 
baths of perchloride are employed, starting with the strongest 
and finishing with the weakest, a paradoxical procedure which 
is explained by the fact that the weakest solution is the most 
rapid in its action, because it passes through the gelatine 
film more speedily than the stronger solutions. The strength 
of the etching liquid is generally measured until a hydrometer. 
The etching is the crux of the whole process. When it has 
gone far enough the plate is held under a strong stream of 
water and the film cleaned off it as quickly as possible, to 
stop further action. After washing it is dried, well cleaned 
with benzol to get rid of the varnish and of any remaining 
grain, washed again in weak acid, and polished. The plate 
is then ready for printing. 

It would be quite outside the scope of this book to provide 
working details either of this or of any other process of photo¬ 
engraving ; but from the sketch just given, the reader will be 
able to form some idea of the way in which a photograph can 
be reproduced in precise facsimile. There are many modifica¬ 
tions of detail in photogravure processes, but the “ Talbot-Klic ” 
process, as the one just described is called, may be taken as the 
basis. The most notable departure is the process of rotary 
photogravure, which is now coming into prominence, and bids 
fair to challenge the all-powerful “ half-tone.” In rotary photo¬ 
gravure, instead of a bitumen ground, as just described, the 
carbon tissue forming the resist is given a brief exposure under 
a ruled screen, and is then laid down on the burnished surface of 
a copper cylinder, which is etched. This cylinder having been 
mounted in a suitable machine, a very liquid form of ink is 
applied to it very liberally, so that the whole surface of the 
copper is smothered with ink. As the cylinder rotates it passes 
under a steel edge, known as the “ doctor,” which has a slight 
reciprocating movement. The “ doctor ” removes all the ink 
from the cylinder, except what is lying in the etched hollows, 
and then the paper being applied to the cylinder with consider¬ 
able pressure, the ink is taken off and so the impression is made. 
The process at its best yields results of great beauty, while it 


398 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


can be worked rapidly enough, using a continuous web of paper 
and printing on both sides of it, to allow of its use for magazine 
and similar purposes, while it does not require the glossy 
surfaced, so-called “ art ” paper which is almost an essential 
of the half-tone process. It is too soon to pronounce very 
definitely on its future; but already it has come into use for 
purposes where hitherto the half-tone block was supreme, and 
there are many workers busily engaged in perfecting it. 

The difficulty encountered by all the early experimenters 
in process work was that of the rendering of half-tones. A 
photograph in the ordinary way has for its highest light white 
or nearly white paper, and its deepest shadows of all may be 
black, but the intermediate tones are different shades of grey 
or brown, as the case may be. While white paper and black 
printing ink may very well stand for the highest lights and 
deepest shadows respectively, they cannot be mingled so as 
to form a grey ; the impression given by the type must result 
either in the black of the ink or the white of the uninked paper. 
So long as we are dealing with subjects which are limited to 
these two, photo-engraving processes are much simplified. This 
is the case with what are called line subjects, which have a 
design made up of lines of black ink on white paper. In these 
the bitumen ground in the photogravure method just described 
would only be wanted with such a subject in order to hold the 
carbon “ resist ” to the copper; in practice a fine ground is 
always used, even for line subjects. The half-tones of a photo¬ 
gravure result from the thin coating of ink broken up by the 
grain of the etched surface, and as soon as Klic introduced 
the method of applying a bitumen dust to the plate before 
putting the resist down upon it, the problem of rendering the 
intermediate tones of a photograph by means of the black ink 
and white paper of a photogravure was found to be solved. 

In relief printing, using the ordinary printing press and 
inking the top surface of the type instead of the hollows, the 
problem was not so easy, and many experimenters tackled it 
before the difficulty was overcome. The separate plates in this 
book are printed from half-tones ; and a sketch of the way 
in which these have been produced may be taken as a type 
of the process. Unlike photogravure, it has never been an 
amateur’s process, nor is it likely to become so. 


PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE PRINTING PRESS 399 


The basis upon which these “half-tone” processes rest is 
that if the dots or stipple are small enough for the distance 
from which the picture is to be seen, the eye no longer realizes 
them as separate dots, but they appear like an even tint, dark 
or light according to the relative area of white paper and black 
ink exposed. If any of the plates in this book are examined 
at the usual distance from the eyes, they will appear to contain 
the most delicate shades of grey or brown ; but if the same 
shades are examined with a magnifier, it will be seen that they 
are all made up of nothing but the full black of the ink and the 
full white of the paper, the only difference being in the size of 
the black dots, fine and widely separated in the lighter parts, 
large and joined up in the deepest shadows. 

The original photograph from which a half-tone block is to 
be made can be either a print or a transparency. It must be a 
positive. The first stage is the crux of the whole process, and 
is the formation, from the print, of a negative in which the half¬ 
tones of the original photograph shall all be represented by 
black dots of different sizes on a clear-glass ground. To do 
this, the original is photographed, using for the purpose a special 
kind of sensitive plate, a glass plate ruled with black lines cross¬ 
ing each other at right angles—the “ half-tone screen ” or “ tint ” 

_being placed just in front of the plate in the camera. In 

the earlier experiments fabric was used for this purpose, gauze, 
crape, and muslin all being employed. The results were very 
poor, until it was recognized that the separation of the screen 
from the plate had a very important influence on the result. 
The theory of the action of the screen has been the subject of 
the most plentiful discussion, which need not concern us. 
Suffice it to say that the negative so obtained should be as 
free as possible from what the photographer calls half-tones, 
the high lights consisting of large black dots joined up at their 
corners so as to leave only small transparent spaces between 
them, while the shadows have clear glass with small distinct 
dots scattered over them. The half-tones of the original should 
be represented by dots of intermediate sizes according to the 
depth of the tone, but all the dots, as far as possible, should be 
opaque, and all the ground work transparent, and the edges of 
the dots as abrupt as possible. This effect can be helped by 
certain methods of intensification. JThe lens of the camera in 


400 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


which this negative is made is fitted with a prism to reverse the 
image, right for left 

U A copper or zinc plate is coated with an even thin layer of 
a preparation of fish glue, a kind of viscid gelatine, and 
bichromate. This is dried, and the plate is then placed beneath 
the half-tone negative just described, and printed. The effect 
of printing is to make the coating insoluble where the light has 
acted, just as in the carbon process. The plate, after printing, 
is wetted, immersed in aniline dye to stain the film and so 
assist the watching of the development, which is then carried 
out by means of cold water. The result is a metal plate, with 
an image upon it made up of dots and spaces of bare metal 
and of an insoluble gelatinous coating. This plate is then 
heated, by which the coating is “ burnt in ”—that is to say, made 
very hard and resistant, so that it will withstand the etching 
fluid. This may be dilute nitric acid for zinc, or iron per- 
chloride for zinc or for copper. At this stage handwork is 
often introduced, portions of the plate being protected by 
varnish and the rest re-etched, the lengths to which this is 
sometimes carried being surprising. When originals are poor, 
and w r hat is wanted is not so much a copy of the original as 
a good-looking result, “ fine etching,” as it is called, is very 
useful, but it may be considered to be carried too far when it 
leads to a pine tree being turned into a church spire, as it did 
on one occasion in the case of a half-tone ordered by the author. 
The plate, when finally etched, is trimmed up, mounted on a 
block of wood so that its surface is level with that of the type 
with which it is to be printed, and is then finished. 

The glass screen through which the half-tone negative is 
made is formed by ruling parallel lines on glass with a diamond, 
and filling them in with pigment. Two such plates are cemented 
together with the lines crossing each other at right angles. The 
distance apart of these lines settles the fineness or coarseness 
of the texture of the block. A very coarse block is wanted for 
printing on newspaper, a finer one may be used on the better 
class of letterpress paper used in bookwork, such as that on 
which this is printed. For newspaper work the ruling of the 
screen may be such that sixty or fewer of the lines go to the 
inch. By using what is, most unhappily, called “art paper”— 
for it is anything but artistic, and is only a sad necessity— 


PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE PRINTING PRESS 401 


much finer results can be obtained. This paper is provided 
with a very fine glossy surface, so that there is no need to have 
blocks with as coarse a texture as sixty lines to the inch. A 
hundred and fifty is more common in such cases. Two hundred 
lines to the inch is a very fine grain indeed, but blocks have 
been made with four hundred. These fine-grain blocks lose 
in richness what they gain in delicacy, and the best result is 
generally found to be got with from 133 to 175 lines to the 
inch, such as has been used for the plates in this book. 

If the original, from which a block is to be made, has no 
half-tone, but is simply a drawing in black ink on white paper, 
the process is simplified. Take the case of the sketch repro¬ 
duced on p. 212 . There was no half-tone in this case at all; 
what was not black ink was white paper, so that no screen was 
necessary. The sketch was photographed to the required size, 
taking great care to get a negative with as clear lines as 
possible on a dark ground, and this was printed on a metal 
plate covered with some sensitive preparation, and then etched. 
The lines being clear, the coating under them is rendered 
insoluble, so that it remains and protects the plate, while its 
surface elsewhere is etched away and lowered. Then, when 
such a block is put into the printing press, the lines stand out 
above the rest, and take the ink and print as black lines on 
the paper. There being no half-tone to be rendered by fine 
dots, such blocks do not require “ art paper,” but can be printed 
with type on that paper with a duller surface that is generally 
used for bookwork, which is much pleasanter to the eye than 
the shiny coating of the “art ” paper. 

These processes by no means exhaust the connection between 
photography and the printing press. One of the most ingenious 
of all is called “ Woodburytype ” from its inventor, the late 
Walter Bentley Woodbury. In this process the first proceed¬ 
ing is to sensitize a thick sheet of gelatine with bichromate 
to print it under a negative, and to wash away the soluble 
gelatine with warm water. The result is a relief, a film in 
which the shadows are represented by the thickest parts, and 
the high lights by the thinnest, kitermediate thicknesses stand¬ 
ing for intermediate tones. This relief is placed on a smooth 
sheet of lead, and the two are put into a hydraulic press. The 
relief is forced into the lead, and every detail of the original 

2D 


402 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


photograph is faithfully reproduced by corresponding depres¬ 
sions in the metal. The gelatine relief is uninjured by the 
process, and may be pulled off the lead and used to form other 
moulds in the same way. To print from such a lead surface 
an ink is used which is made by mixing finely ground colour 
with a solution of gelatine. The solution is of such a con¬ 
sistency that when cold it is a jelly, and it is applied to the 
mould hot. Some of the liquid ink being poured into the 
mould, a sheet of smooth paper is placed on top, a piece of 
plate glass is pressed down upon it, and the whole is put aside 
for a minute or two. The glass squeezes out the surplus fluid 
ink, and what is left sets into a firm jelly on cooling. When 
the paper is pulled off, it brings with it a cast of the lead 
mould in this jelly, which dries down into a faithful replica 
of the original. A good Woodburytype is almost indistinguish¬ 
able from a carbon print; and, as in a carbon print, its half-tones 
are beautifully rendered by varying thicknesses of pigment in 
gelatine. The process fails when there is any large area of 
an even tone to be reproduced, especially if it is a light tone, 
as slight irregularities in the paper lead to corresponding irregu¬ 
larities in the thickness of the film. The squeezing out of the 
surplus ink also necessitates trimming the prints, and they have 
to be mounted. As printing is also very slow, the process has 
only enjoyed a moderate popularity for limited editions and is 
now rarely worked ; but with subjects that suit it, a Woodbury¬ 
type is the finest photo-mechanical rendering of a photograph 
that any one could wish to have. 

Another process which cannot be passed by is collotype. 
This employs a principle closely allied to that which is the 
basis of carbon printing. It was early found that if a sheet 
of glass were coated with bichromated gelatine, and parts of it 
were exposed to light while other parts were not, and sub¬ 
sequently its surface were damped, that a roller with greasy ink 
passing over it, inked the surface where the light had acted, but 
left no ink on the parts where there had been no light action. 
We have seen one application of this in the “oil” and “bromoil” 
processes. 

The discovery was worked out by Poitevin, Tessie du 
Motay, and others, and made commercially practicable by 
Albert. The method in outline is to treat the glass plate first 


PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE PRINTING PRESS 403 

with a substratum of albumen, gelatine, and bichromate, which, 
drying and becoming insoluble, holds the actual printing coat¬ 
ing firmly down. Albumen and sodium silicate (water glass, as 
it is called) is sometimes used as the substratum. The glass is 
then coated with bichromated gelatine, which may or may not 
contain albumen and other substances. Here arises the trouble 
which held back the half-tone process for so long. If we have 
black ink and white paper, how can we render the intermediate 
tones ? In collotype this is surmounted in a very simple way. 
By drying the glass with its sensitized coating by carefully 
regulated heat, it will be found to dry with a fine grain, which 
splits up the image exactly as we want it. The plate so 
prepared is printed under a negative, and is then soaked for 
half an hour. If plain water were used for the purpose, the 
plate would have to be soaked for each print, but by using one 
part of glycerine to three of water this is not necessary. After 
soaking, the surplus liquid may be wiped off with a sponge, 
and the plate is ready to be inked up. 

The inking of a collotype plate, and indeed of any plate 
that is akin to lithography, is a curious process. Let us 
suppose we have our roller well coated with greasy ink and we 
run it slowly over the glass, using a fair pressure, after a few 
strokes the entire surface of the glass will be covered with ink. 
Then, instead of continuing to roll slowly and heavily, we roll 
as quickly and lightly as we possibly can, and we shall find 
that we can remove almost all the ink from the glass. Between 
these two methods is an intermediate one, which will leave just 
the right quantity of ink on the glass to give the impression 
required. A piece of paper being laid on the glass, it is 
brought into contact with it in a press of a particular type. 
Behind the paper is placed what is called a tympan, a sheet of 
thin metal or other material in a frame. The flat, rounded 
edge of a “ scraper ” presses on the tympan, and the glass, paper, 
and tympan being drawn under the scraper, the paper as it 
passes is brought into close contact with the glass plate. The 
tympan being raised the paper print is taken off, the plate 
re-wetted if it need it, inked up again, and a fresh impression is 
pulled. 

Modified collotype is quite within the power of an amateur 
photographer, and wants very little in the way of apparatus; 


404 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


and at least two processes—“ Sinop ” and the “ Photo-auto¬ 
copyist—have been put on the market to meet his needs. In 
these a letter-copying press can be used for printing, or even 
the domestic wringer can be employed at a pinch ; while in the 
photo-autocopyist, paper coated with gelatine and stretched on 
a frame is used instead of the glass plate. Either method will 
give very fair results without much practice, and, where more 
than a few prints are required, is worth consideration. 

The processes above described do not exhaust the list. 
Photozincography, photolithography, stannotype, and other 
methods might all be dealt with, as links between the camera 
and the printing press. But some of these are obsolete, and 
others have limited applications only, so that the merest 
mention must suffice. The growth of half-tone, not only in 
popularity, but in the quality of the results, has already made 
it overshadow all other processes ; and although, for reasons 
inherent in it, it is not likely ever to surpass photogravure, it 
is not at its best so very inferior, while the cheapness with 
which good work can be turned out has caused it up to the 
present to fill a far wider field of usefulness. 


L’ENVOI 


T HE broad roads of landscape and portraiture are followed 
by the great majority of amateur photographers, and the 
processes which have occupied us so far seem enough to meet 
the needs of most of them. But the camera can be applied 
to so many purposes, and so many processes and methods can 
be applied to it, that the bypaths open to the photographer 
are almost countless. Delightful, too, is it to follow whither 
our tastes lead us, to photograph crocuses or comets, to show 
our pictures burnt in on porcelain or in the fleeting blue print. 
There are a dozen or more of such bypaths which has each 
a treatise to itself. 

Take wet-plate work for an example. The very smell of 
the ether has a fascination for some, while the direct personal 
contact between worker and process has no parallel in any 
other photographic method. The wet-plate photographer 
cleans his glass and dirts his fingers, coats his plate, sensitizes 
it, exposes it, develops it, and dries or smashes it as he may 
think fit, and all within an hour. Dirty glass at ten, at eleven 
may be in the printing-frame. There is no such feeling of 
“ Alone I did it ” to be obtained by the user of the dry plate 
of commerce, containing he knows not what, and made he 
knows not how. It is said to yield very fine slides ; but 
comparatively few amateurs now living have ever tried it for 
this purpose. There are some very pleasant hours before any 
one, whose tastes run more towards processes than pictures, 
in learning to make a good wet-plate lantern slide. 

Own brother to the wet plate is collodio-bromide. The 


406 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


pundits who differ on all else agree that never were such slides 
as those which can be made on collodio-bromide. The process 
is not so messy as the wet plate, since although silver nitrate 
plays a part in it, that part is played in the seclusion of a 
bottle, where bromide soon renders it harmless to the skin of 
the photographer. In collodio-bromide we have the realization 
of Gaudin’s dream, a fluid which is poured over a plate, dried, 
and it is at once ready for exposure in the camera. It is the 
wet plate with the coating of the glass put last instead of first, 
The collodion has silver nitrate and a soluble bromide added 
to it in the dark room, and thus has silver bromide formed 
within it. The creamy liquid is poured out into a dish for its 
ether and alcohol to evaporate, and the leathery mass so left 
is washed in water to get rid of the soluble salts, the result of 
the emulsification, and is then once more redissolved to form 
a collodion. These earlier stages of collodio-bromide work 
need not be carried out by him who would use the emulsion. 
He can buy it ready made. He cleans his glass, pours on the 
emulsion, and in a few minutes it is dry and ready for exposure. 
The plate is not quite so fast as an ordinary lantern plate, but 
is rapid enough for slides by reduction in the camera. It is 
developed with pyro-ammonia, fixed with hypo, and, like the 
wet plate, can be washed thoroughly, thanks to its thin film, 
and dried off by heat in a very few minutes. Without going 
so far as to say that slides, as good as collodio-bromide slides, 
cannot be made on gelatine lantern plates—we believe they 
can—it is only bare justice to a very beautiful method to admit 
that when it was par excellence the slide-making process, the 
average of lantern slides that were shown was very much higher 
than it is to-day. 

If we go from these to printing methods, there is the 
simple “blue print,” which survives, as the Darwinians tell us 
some of the lower forms of life survive, from the extreme 
simplicity of its structure. The blue print needs nothing 
but a good washing in water to reveal its full vigour (such as 
it is) and to confer its greatest permanence (with the same 
proviso understood). Blue printing-paper has its uses outside 
that chief one which it finds in engineers’ and architects’ 
offices. An ingenious photographer has told how he papered 
a room with highly glazed blue prints from his negatives, 


L’ENVOI 


407 


simulating thereby Dutch tiles. This, perhaps, is not so much 
a use as an abuse. Blue prints are handy as furnishing the 
simplest method of cataloguing negatives. There are certain 
subjects which the colour is said to suit, and we live in the 
hope that one day we may see such a subject. The paper is 
simplicity itself—not merely to use, but to make. The sensi¬ 
tizing solution is made by dissolving a quarter of an ounce 
each of green ammoniocitrate of iron and of potassium ferri- 
cyanide in an ounce of water each, and mixing the two solutions. 
It can be applied with a brush or sponge to the paper, and 
the blue print is not at all particular about its paper ; so long 
as it is fairly well sized it may be anything almost, and as soon 
as it is dried the paper is ready. It takes longer to print than 
P.O.P., but not so much longer; while half an hour’s washing 
in cold water is all the after treatment. The picture so 
obtained can be toned in many ways, and made to yield 
every colour from black to yellow or green, according to the 
treatment adopted. 

Kallitype is another printing process—or rather was, for 
little is heard of it now—and a batch of kallitype prints turned 
out of a drawer the other day bore no sign to distinguish the 
front of the paper from the back. The image which once had 
been vigorous enough, had folded its tents like the Arab and 
had silently stolen away. The sensitizing solution in this case 
was a mixture of silver nitrate and ferric oxalate, and the 
developer Rochelle salt and borax. Prints made on plain 
“salted” paper, as it is called, at about the same date, were 
as good as ever; and many may like to try that method, 
because, while giving any of the colours we are accustomed 
to get on a silverprint, we can select any paper for the pur¬ 
pose that suits us, provided only it is reasonably pure. The 
paper is floated on the surface of a warm solution of gelatine, 
salt, and citric acid. Half an ounce of gelatine, I dram of 
common salt, and 2 drams of citric acid to 7 ozs. of water will 
serve as a type of the solution used. It is then dried, and 
keeps in this condition indefinitely. It is insensitive; and so, 
not more than a day or two before it is to be used, it is floated 
on a solution of silver nitrate of a strength of 40 grains to 
I oz. of water. After two minutes floating, it is hung up and 
dried in the dark. Such paper prints very quickly, and, when 


408 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


printed, is washed and toned either with gold or platinum. 
The platinum toning bath, as used for P.O.P., is very suitable 
for it. Rough drawing papers, such as Whatman or Joynson, 
answer very well, and there are many who like the results 
obtained in that way more than those on rough bromide or 
platinum paper. The process is very simple, and the image 
prints right out. It is a bypath likely to appeal to the 
picture maker more than most. 

The Stereoscope is an instrument which is a capital test for 
separating the sheep from the goats, the scientific from the 
pictorial photographer. Readers must decide for themselves 
which group shall be represented by the sheep. Certain only 
is it that while those people who are most interested in the 
technical side of photography are fascinated by the stereoscope 
and the effect it gives, even if they are not stereoscopic workers 
themselves, the artist feels that what one regards as extra¬ 
ordinary realism is to him glaringly and repulsively false. 
The question, like so many others, is one of standpoint or 
mental attitude. To one concerned with things as they are, 
the way in which the stereoscope gives a sensation of relief or 
depth to the picture seems true enough ; to the other, the 
suggestion of reality, instantly contradicted by the absolute 
rigidity of every part, is a discord of the harshest kind. The 
author is, perhaps, prejudiced against the stereoscope. Its 
pictures seem so brittle in every part; they are regarded 
under conditions of discomfort, peering into eye-pieces for a 
result which hardly justifies even so slight a trouble; the 
relief is so assertive that the view in the stereoscope cannot 
be looked at in the light of a conventional representation, as 
every true picture is, quite unconsciously. It masquerades as 
the real thing, but the disguise is not good enough. 

One of the most remarkable of modern developments in 
photography is the kinematograph or “cinema.” In this a 
series of little pictures are taken on a continuous band of 
celluloid film, printed on a similar film, and then projected 
in rapid succession on a screen. By the use of alternating 
colour screens, both in taking and projecting, a very fair colour¬ 
rendering can be obtained. There have been various attempts 
to popularize amateur kinematography ; but the cost of the 
apparatus and of the films has been sufficient to prevent their 


L’ENYOI 409 

success, and the production of “ living pictures ” has become 
a distinct and extensive industry. 

Twenty years or so ago, more was heard than is heard to-day 
of a very beautiful process, giving results of greater permanence 
ip all probability than any other. Photo-ceramics, or photo¬ 
graphic enamels are photographs which have been transferred 
to the surface of porcelain or enamel; the vehicle supporting 
the photographic image being removed and the picture itself 
fixed into the porcelain and glazed over, so as to be almost 
indestructible, except by actual smashing. 

Porcelain is not the only substance available. Photographs 
may be absolutely incorporated into the surface of a glass 
plate, and a Leeds amateur adapted “ the pepper process,” as it 
was called, to the making of lantern slides, which thus need no 
cover glasses. The name is due to the sensitizing solution, 
which is an extract of pure white pepper obtained by means of 
benzol. Glass is coated with this and dried, and is then 
printed under a positive transparency, not a negative. When 
sufficiently printed, it is brushed over with finely powdered 
enamel colour, which adheres to the parts which were protected 
by the positive, but not to the parts on which the light has 
acted. In this way a picture, composed of the enamel colour, is 
built up on the glass, and when it is seen to be strong enough, 
the glass is heated until its surface and the enamel fuse together. 

Turning for the moment from processes to their applica¬ 
tions, what a vision opens out of the usefulness of the camera. 
The photographer no longer appears merely the suave gentle¬ 
man in frock-coat and immaculate cuffs, who asks to have the 
“ head a little up, please,” or " there, like that’s ” us, at a charge 
not so far removed from that of the dentist; nor seems he the 
humbler follower of the craft, with stained fingers and persuasive 
air, who offers to do us “Just as you are for ninepencenor 
even as the stolid automatic machine that expresses, in print, 
its willingness to be put into operation by a couple of pennies— 
a willingness which too often, alas 1 is contradicted flatly by its 
subsequent behaviour. We see the photographer in his wider 
sphere directing the camera-telescope towards the heavens hour 
after hour, while stars forever invisible to the human eye aided 
no matter by what triumph of the optician, pile up the accumu- 


410 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


lating record of their existence into a developable speck that is 
our only hint of a universe more wondrous and perhaps more 
vast than our own. Or, at the other end of the scale, the same 
principles and the same methods are recording those modern 
demons that can sit in myriads on a pin-point, yet whose inter¬ 
necine strife in blood and tissue may be fraught with life and 
death to any one of us. The bacteriologist finds his greatest 
auxiliary the camera ; the astronomer learns from it the com¬ 
position of the comet and the structure of the stars ; the spectro¬ 
scope writes in invisible light a visible inscription on the plate : 
and we may yet see the day when the correspondence of the 
nations can be conducted through a single wire and written at 
the speed of light itself on the photographic film. That is 
more than the vision of a dreamer, and already, experimentally 
at least, the speed of recording telegraphy has reached a point 
almost beyond conception. When the provoking moralist 
flaunts before us the wondrous adaptability of the elephantine 
trunk to uproot a tree or uplift a needle, or the hackneyed 
steam-hammer is put into operation to forge a propeller or 
to crack a nut, let us remember that we need not go beyond 
our own hobby to point the moral and adorn the tale to a 
far more wonderful extent. The process that is helpmeet of 
the sciences and recorder to the world, is equally ready to 
while away an hour for us as the freshest and most fascinating 
of hobbies. 


INDEX 


Aberration, chromatic, 7 
spherical, 7 
Abney, Sir W., 113 

red sensitive plates, 286 
Absorption of stray light, 29 
Acetylene for enlarging, 270 
Achromatic lens invented, 7 
Achromatism, 7, 53 
Acid fixing baths, 133, 261 
Actinograph, 113, 119 
Actinometer, Johnson’s, 215 
printing with an, 198 
Sawyer’s, 215 
Adam’s magazine, 34 
Adon lens, 79 
Aerial perspective, 372 
Agricola, 9 
Alhazen, 1 

Albert and the collotype process, 402 
Alberti, 3 

Albumenized paper, 183 
Aldis, 26 

anastigmats, 74 
Alum in the fixing bath, 135 
Amateur and professional, 391 
Amateur collotype, 403 
Anastigmats, the Aldis, 74 
the Dallmeyer, 74 
the Ross Homocentric, 75 
Angle of view in architectural work, 

343 

Animal photography, 362 
Annan, J. Craig, on the camera, 171 
Anti-screen plates, 291 
Aperture, the importance of, 85 
Arago, 12 
Archer, 22 

Architectural photography, 339 
Aristotle, 1, 2, 8 

Artificial light for colour photo¬ 
graphy, 308 

platinum printing by, 197 
portraiture, 360 


Ashford tripod stand, 38 
Astigmatism, 50 
Atmosphere, 372 

and exposures, 122 
Autochrome plate introduced, 25 
plates, 304 

Back, reversing, 31 
swing, 31 

Back, the camera, 27 
Backgrounds for portraits, 352 
Backing orthochromatic plates, 296 
plates for architectural work, 340 
to prevent halation, 93 
removal of, 133 
Bacon, 1, 3, 4 

speculum camera, 3 
Barbaro, 1, 3 

Baskett's reducer, 282, 314 
Beccari, 11 
Benedetti, 4 
Bennett, C., 24 

Bennett, H. W., formula for carbon 
sensitizer, 217 
Bichromate disease, 234 
Binding lantern slides, 283 
Bitumen process, 2, 15 
Blair, 23 

Blake Smith’s toning process, 263 
Blanchard, V., carbon without trans¬ 
fer, 211 

Blistering, Frilling and, 136 
Blocking out negatives, 317 
Blue printing, 23, 406 
Boats, exposures from, 173 
Bolting silk for enlarging, 322 
Bolton, 24 

and Sayce, 22 
Book-form dark slides, 33 
Boyle, Robert, 10 
Breadth in pictorial work, 371 
Bromide in the developer, 132 
411 




412 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Bromide paper, 253 
invented, 25 
varieties of, 257 
Bromide printing, by gas, 256 
dark room light for, 259 
development, 259 
exposures in, 256 
fixing, 261 
negatives for, 257 
sulphide toning, 263 
Bromoil, 250 
Burnett, 23 

Calculating the depth of focus, 155 
Calotype, 20 
Camera, an early, 6 
care of the, 40 
cases, 40 
for copying, 30 
Daguerre’s, 17 
fixed focus, 29 
focussing mechanism, 30 
folding hand, 163 
the functions of, 27 
for landscape work, 40, 329 
and lens, distinct apparatus, 27 
obscura, 4 

with reversing back, 31 
rigidity essential, 28 
rising and cross front, 29 
stands for, 37 
stereoscopic, 30 
studio, 30 

with swing back, 31 
temporarily attaching a lens to, 
48 

testing a lens on the, 48 
tilting the, 29 
Camera Club founded, 377 
“ Camera Work," 379 
Cameron, Mrs. Julia, 376 
Canaletto, 5 

Carbon printing, 210, 220 
the continuing action, 222 
development, 225 
double transfer, 229 
invented, 23 

making transparencies, 231 
Pouncy's, 237 

to prepare transfer paper, 228 
printing in clouds, 230 
sensitizing tissue, 217 
tissue for, 213 


Carriers for dark slides, 33 
Cases for cameras, 40 
Cartridge, the daylight loading, 25 
Catechu, toning with, 206 
Cathedrals, permits to photograph 
in, 347 

Celluloid v. glass, 88 
film introduced, 25 
focussing screens, 32 
Centring of lenses, 47 
Ceramic work, 409 
Chaldea, the camera in, 2 
Changing boxes, 35 
Charles, 12 

Chaussier discovers “ hypo," 14 
Chiaroscuro, 370 
Chisolm, 11 

Chromatic aberration, 7 
Cinema, 408 
Circle of confusion, 152 
Claudet, 21 

Clerk-Maxwell on colour vision, 300 
Clouds by the carbon process, 230 
in lantern slides, 281 
Cockling of mounted prints, 194 
Collodio-bromide, 405 
Collodion emulsion invented, 22 
P.O.P., 183 
Collotype, 402 
Colour contrast, 286 
Colour photography, 298 
by artificial light, 308 
screen plates, 25 
Colour screens, 288, 292 
vision, 300 

work in oil and bromoil, 251 
Coloured glass, 102 
Colours in carbon tissue, 213 
Combe, 58 

Combination printing, 323 
Combining lenses, 157 
Comparing speed numbers, 116 
Composition in pictorial work, 368 
Condenser in enlarging, 266 
Contact lantern slides, 277 
Continuing action, in carbon work, 
222 

Convertible lenses, 82 
Cooke anastigmats, 74 
Cooper Hewitt light, 197 
Copying, camera for, 30 
Copyright in photographs, 389 
Covering powers of lenses, 47 





INDEX 


413 


Cracked lenses, 47 

Cristoid film, 90 

Cross front, 29 

Curvature of the field, 50 

Cut-out mounts, 193 

Cutting shapes, 191 

Cyanide and iodine reducer, 282, 326 

Cylindrical perspective, 67 

Daguerre, 1, 16 

Dallmeyer Bergheim lenses, 73, 351 
Dallmeyer, J. H., 26 

and diffusion of focus, 351 
Dallmeyer lenses, 71 
the Adon, 79 
the Stigmatic, 74 
Dallmeyer, T. R., 26 
Damp in printing, 181 
Dark room, 97 

fitting up the, 99 
light for bromide printing, 259 
Dark slide, 28, 32, 166 
Davison, G., “ The Onion Field,” 377 
Davy, Sir Humphry, 14 
Daylight enlargers, 272 
Daylight-loading cartridge '• 

Depth of focus, 85, 152 
calculating, 155 
Detective cameras, 147 
Developer, bromide in the, 132 
factors for, 128 
pouring on the, 132 
ready-made, 131 
Developing a carbon print, 225 
machines, 97 
platinum prints, 199 
P.O.P., 185 
Development, 123 

of bromide prints, 259 
control in, 124 

by the factorial method, 125, 127 
in gum printing, 242 
and halation, 95 
machines for, 124, 129 
of orthochromatic plates, 295 
of portrait negatives, 357 
by time, 125 
Diaphragms, see Stops 
Differential focussing, 56, 313 
Diffuser in enlarging, 266 
Dioptrice, Kepler’s, 5 
Direct work v. enlarging, 39 


Dishes, 105 

wooden, for large work, 106 
Distance, judging, 169 
Distortion, 51, 63 
the cure of, 273 
Dodging and faking, 312 
Dollond, John, 7 
Dollond’s process, 206 
Double toning, 184 
Double transfer carbon process, 229 
Draining racks, 105 
Draper, 23 

Drawing of a photograph, 61 
Driffield, Hurter and, no, 123 
Dry mounting, 194 
Drying negatives, 140 
Dufay plate, 307 
Dust, the danger of, 97 

Eastman, 25 

Efficiency of shutters, 161 
Egypt, the camera in, 2 
Electric light in the dark room, 100 
Emerson, Dr. P. H., 377 
on different focussing, 56 
on vignetting, 180 
Emulsion, collodion, 22 
Enamelling prints, 188 
English, Douglas, on animal photo¬ 
graphy, 362 

Enlarged negatives, 275 
Enlarging, 265 

curing distortion by, 273 
with fixed focus apparatus, 272 
lantern, the adjustment of, 268 
the use of bolting silk, 322 
Enlargements v. direct work, 39 
Envelopes for plates, 33 
Euclid, 1 
Euryscopes, 71 

Examinations, photographic, 393 
Exhibitions and Societies, 383 
Exposing with a hand-camera, 167 
Exposure, 109 
abroad, 122 
and atmosphere, 122 
from boats, 173 
in bromide printing, 256 
with different stops, 44 
factors governing, 112 
with half the lens, 115 
indoors, 118 

the influence of the lens, 114 




414 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Exposure —continued 
latitude, hi 

with moving objects, 173 
in pinhole work, 57, 59 
in portraiture, 356 
in a studio, 118 
and the subject, 117 
Express trains, photographing, 175 
Extension, double and triple, 40 
and stop values, 45 

F number, 44 
Fabric, ruby, 102 
printing on, 208 
Fabricius, 9 

Factorial development, 125 
Factors for developers, 128 
governing exposure, 112 
Faking, 312 
Falling front, 29 
Faraday, 1 
Fargier, 23 
Fenelon, 12 

Field, curvature of the, 50 
Film carriers, 35 

advantages of, 330 
celluloid introduced, 25 
cut, to wash, 138 
packs, 35 
roll, 88 

sizes of plates and, 38 
Finders, 158 

Fixed focus cameras, 39, 150 
enlargers, 272 

Fixing bath, the use of alum, 135 
add, 133 

Fixing negatives, 133 
with ammonia, 11 
platinum prints, 202 
Flare spot, 52 

Flash-light photographs, 360 
Flatness of field in lenses, 49 
Flower photography, 297 
Focal plane shutters, 164 
Focus, depth of, 85 
of lenses, 43 
Focussing by scale, 151 
differential, 56, 313 
interiors, 343 
jackets, 30 
mechanism, 30 
on the screen, 84 
Folding tripod adapter, 37 


Fox Talbot, invents photogravure, 395 
French Government pensions Da¬ 
guerre, 2 

Frilling, the cause of, 13^ 

Front, rising and falling, 28, 172 
the Sanderson rising, 40 
Functions of the camera, 27 

Galvani, 1 
Gaslight paper, 254 
Gelatine mountant, 192 
plates invented, 24 
Gelatino-chloride paper, 25 
Gevaert’s platinum papers, 202 
Ghost images, 28 
Ghost or flare, 53 
Giphantie, 12 
Glass v. celluloid, 88 
ruby and yellow, 102 
Globe polish reducer, 282, 214 
Glycerine development for platinum 
paper, 204 

Gold, toning P.O.P. with, 186 
Gradation, rendering, 109 
Graduation of shutters, 162 
Green glass for printing, 180 
light in the dark room, 103 
Ground glass focussing screens, 32 
Groups, 359 
Grim lens, 76 
Gum-bichromate, 236 
and platinum, 208 

Halation, 88, 93 

and development, 95 
Half-tone processes, 399 
Hall, Chester More, 7 
Handbooks, photographic, 393 
Hand-camera, exposing with, 167, 176 
fixed focus, 150 
holding the, 167 
lenses for, 150 
levels for, 165 

moving objects with the, 173 
the reflex, 168 
rising front on the, 172 
telephoto lenses with the, 171 
work, 147 

Hands in portraiture, 360 
Harrison, C. J., on working up 
negatives, 318 
Herschel, 2, 23 

investigates hypo, 18 




INDEX 


415 


Higgins’ mountant, 193 
Hill, D. O., 21, 376 
Holding the hand-camera, 167 
Homocentric lens, 75 
Horn silver, 8 
Hunt, 23 

Hurter and Driffield, no, 123 
Hyperfocal distance, 154 
Hypo, discovery of, 14 
Hypo-eliminators, 137, 187 

Ilford Co. popularize P.O.P., 25 
Illumination in enlarging, 266 
of the dark room, 99 
Incandescent gas for enlarging, 270 
printing, 256 
Infinity mark, 86, 154 
Inspection, development by, 125 
Inston’s developer for platinum 
prints, 201 

Intaglio printing, 394 
Intensification, choice of methods, 
142 

for lantern slides, 280 
with mercury, 144 
with silver, 143 
Iron processes, 23 
Ives’ photochromoscope, 302 

Johnson, J. R., 212 
Joly’s colour process, 304 
Jougla's omnicolore plate, 307 
Journals, photographic, 393 

“ K ” screens, 290 
Kallitype, 407 
Kennett, 24 
Kentmann, 9 
Kepler, 1, 5 

Key in pictorial work, 374 
Kinematograph, 408 
Kodak developing machines, 124, 129 
the first, 25 
platinum paper, 209 
stops on the, 45 

Landscape photography, 328 
cameras for, 40 

Landscapes, what not to take, 332 
Lantern plates, 277 
slide making, 276 
by reduction, 279 


Lantern slides, clouds in, 281 
to bind, 283 
intensifying, 280 
to mask, 283 
standard sizes, 278 
toning, 281 

Latent image and theory, 123 

Latitude in exposure, in 

Lens, achromatic, invented, 7 
achromatism in the, 53 
the Adon, 79 
the Aldis, 74 
anastigmat, 74 
astigmatism in the, 50 
centring of the, 47 
choice of, 43 
Combining, 157 
convertible, 82 
the Cooke, 74 
covering powers of, 47 
cracked, 47 

curvature of the field in, 50 
Dallmeyer, 71 
Dallmeyer-Bergheim, 73 
Dallmeyer portrait, 73 
definition with, 72 
distortion with, 51 
Euryscope, 71 
flare spot in, 52 
flatness of field, 49 
focus of, 43 

with focussing jackets, 30 

ghosts with the, 53 

the Grim, 76 

for hand-cameras, 150 

the Homocentric, 75 

the influence of, on exposure, 114 

for landscape work, 329 

liquid, 76 

meniscus, 69 

periscopic, 69 

Petzval portrait, 72 

Portable Symmetrical, 71 

portrait, 81 

principle of the, 42 

quality and price, 75 

with rack and pinion, 30 

Rapid Symmetrical, 71 

rapidity of, 44 

rectilinear, 49, 69 

Ross, 71 

the selection of, 68 
single, 49. 81 



416 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Lens, achromatic, invented— contd. 
the single, 68 

some well-known types, 70 
specimens of work, 55 
spherical aberration in, 52 
and stray light, 29 
striae in, 46 
Sutton’s water, 76 
the Telecentric, 79 
the Telephoto, 77 
testing a, 46 
a test object for, 49 
the uncorrected, 54 
uncorrected, 68 
using half the, 83 
Levels for architectural work, 342 
for hand-cameras, 165 
Lewis, Dr. William, 11 
Light filters, 288, 292 
Light in the dark room, 98 
tables, 113 

Lighting in interiors, 346 
Lightning, the photography of, 87 
Linked Ring 379 
Lippmann’s colour process, 299 
Liquid dark-room lamps, 101 
London Salon of Photography, 379, 

389 

Lumiere on washing, 137, 187 
autochrome process, 304 
on washing prints, 187 

Machines for development, 124, 129 
Mackenzie-Wishart holders, 33 
Maddox, 24 

Magazines v. dark slides, 166 
for plates, 34 

Magnesium for interiors, 345 
light photography, 360 
Magnifiers, 68, 152 
focussing with, 156 
Manly’s Ozobrome, 263 
Ozotype, 235 
Mansfield, 24 
Marine photography, 335 
Marion’s print-testing frame, 257 
Mariotype, 234 
Masking during printing, 320 
lantern slides, 283 
Matt celluloid for printing, 321 
varnish, 314 
Maurolycus, 5 
Measures, 106 


Meniscus lenses, 69 
Mercury in platinum printing, 205 
vapour light for printing, 197 
Meter, the Watkins, 116, 120 
the Wynne, 116 
Methven screen, 255 
Microscope, the Solar, 20 
Mildew on platinum prints, 203 
Monckhoven, 24 

Mortimer, F. J., on wave photo¬ 
graphy, 335 
Motay, Tessie du, 402 
Mounting, dry, 194 
with gelatine, 192 
P.O.P., 18, 190 
to prevent cockling, 194 
Moving objects, exposures with, 
173 

Multispeed shutter, 161 
Mummery, J. C. S., on gum-bichro¬ 
mate, 236 

Myth of the wonderful lens, 42 

N. & G. magazine, 34 
Namias on sensitizing carbon tissue, 
217 

Naturalism in photography, 377 
Needles, size of, 58 
Negative paper, 90 
to block out, 317 
for bromide printing, 257 
enlarged, 275 
the perfect, no 
for platinum printing, 198 
for P.O.P., 180 
washing, 136 
Newton, Sir Isaac, 7 
Niepce, 15 

bitumen process, 2 
Nollit, Abbe, 6 

Obernetter, 25 
Oersted, 1 
Oil printing, 245 
transferring, 252 
Omnicolore plate, 307 
Optical flats for screens, 293 
Orthochromatic photography, 92, 286 
plates, 288 

the development of, 295 
Orthochromatism discovered, 23 
Over-correction, 293 




INDEX 


417 


Ozobrome, 263 . 

Ozotype, 235 

Packham’s process, 206 
Paget colour plates, 307 
Panchromatic plates, 288, 296 
Panoram, the, 334 
Panoramic landscapes, 334 
perspective, 66 
Paper for negative work, 89 
to make translucent, 90 
Papier minerale, 315 
Parallelism, testing for, 83 
Passe-partouts, 387 
Pepper process, 409 
Perfect negative, no 
Periscopic lenses, 69 
Permits to photograph, 347 
Perspective and the camera, 61 
cylindrical, 67 
panoramic, 66 
plane, 67 
systems of, 61 
Petzval, 26 

portrait lenses, 72 
Photo-autocopyist, 404 
Photo-ceramic work, 409 
Photo-chromoscope, 302 
Photo-lithography, 404 
Photo-secession, 379 
Photo-Zincography, 404 
Photographic examinations, 393 
handbooks, 393 
journals, 393 
Salon, 379 
Societies, 392 

Photography for the press, 391 
discovery of, 2 
and the printing press, 394 
Photogravure, 395 
Pictorial photography, 363 
Picture plane, the, 64 
Pigmenting an oil print, 248 
Pinhole camera, early, 3 
causes ghost images, 28 
making a, 57 
photography, 56 
Plane perspective, 67 
Plate-carrying devices, 34 
Plate-holder, 32 
Plate-speeds, 115 
Plates and films, sizes of, 38 
backed, 93 


Plates and films —continued 
the choice of, 91 
double and treble-coated, 92 
lantern, 277 
orthochromatic, 92 
Platinotype Co.'s magnesium lamp, 

361 

sepia paper, 201 
Platinotype invented, 23 
Platinum and gum-bichromate, 208 
printing, 196 

Dollond’s process, 206 
negatives for, 198 
on fabrics, 208 
Packham’s process, 206 
with glycerine, 204 
Platinum prints, changes in, 207 
to develop, 199 
sepia tones on, 200 
Platinum, toning P.O.P. with, 168 
Pluvinel, La Baume, 113 
Poitevin, 22, 402 
Ponton, Mungo, 20 
Porta, 1, 3, 4 
Portrait lenses, 81, 350 
Petzval, 72 
Portraiture, 349 
by flashlight, 360 
in ordinary rooms, 355 
Pouncy’s carbon process, 237 
Press, photographs for the, 391 
Priestley, 13 

Print-testing frame, Marion’s, 257 
Printing, 178 

on bromide paper, 253 
in bromoil, 250 
in carbon, 210 
combination, 323 
on gaslight paper, 254 
by machinery, 253 
in oil, 245 
in a weak light, 180 
P.O.P., 178 

developing, 185 
enamelling, 188 
introduced, 25 
mounting, 190 
squeegeeing, 188 
toning, 182 

Printing press, photography and the, 
394 

Printing under green glass, 180 
with a mask, 320 




418 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Prints to spot, 320 
to trim, 190 
washing, 187 
Prism, the reversing, 224 
Professional and amateur, 391 
Projecting slides, 284 
Pugin’s “ Normandy,” 62 

Reade, Rev. J. B., 20 
Rectilinear lenses, 49, 69 
astigmatism in, 50 
Reduction, 145 

Baskett’s formula, 282, 314 
lantern slides by, 279 
Reflex, the use of the, 168 
Reinhold, 5 
Rej lander, 376 
Releases for shutters, 165 
Relief printing, 398 
Retouching, 324 
portraits, 361 
Reversing back, 31 
prisms, 224 

Rigidity of the camera, 38 
Rising front, 29 

on the hand-camera, 172 
Ritter, 12 

Robinson, H. P., 376 
Roche, Tiphaigne de la, 12 
Roll film, 88 
introduced, 25 
Roll holders, 35 
Ross, Andrew, 26 
Ross Homocentric Anastigmats, 75 
lenses, 71 

the Telecentric, 79 
Ross, Thomas, 26 
Rotary Photogravure, 397 
Royal Photographic Society's Ex¬ 
hibition, 389 

system of marking stops, 45 
Rubber solution for mounting, 192 
Ruby Christia, 103 

Safe lights for dark room use, 10 
for orthochromatic work, 288 
Sanderson front, the, 40 
Sawyer, 23, 213 

temporary support, 229 
Sayce and Bolton, 22 
Scale, focussing by, 86, 151 
on the baseboard, 87 
Scheele, 1, n, 23 


Schonbein discovers collodion, 21 
Schulze, 1, 9 
Scioptrick ball, 5 
Scott, Dr. J. A., 113 
Screen-plate colour processes, 25, 
304 

Screened plates, 291 
Screens, focussing, 32 

for lantern projection, 284 
for orthochromatic work, 288, 
292 

Scum on plates, 139 
Selection in pictorial work, 370 
of a lens, 68 
Selective focussing, 313 
Self-screened plates, 291 
Self-toning papers, 186 
Sensitive materials, storage of- 107 
Sensitiveness of plates, 115 
Sensitometer, the Warnerke, 115 
Shepherd, Sanger, on three-colour 
printing, 304 
Sherar on perspective, 64 
Shutter releases, 165 
Shutter, the multi-speed, 161 
efficiency of the, 161 
the focal plane, 164 
graduation of the, 162 
for hand-cameras, 160 
the most useful speeds, 163 
Silver, horn, 8 
Silver spots on P.O.P., 181 
Single lens, 49, 68, 81 

Sinks for the dark room, 104 
Sinop, 404 

Size, the choice of, 39 
Sizes of lantern slides, 278 
of plates and films, 38 
Slides, see Lantern slides 
single and double, 32 
Small v. large pictures, 39 
Smith, Dr. J. H., Uto paper, 309 
Snow and hoar frost subjects, 337 
Societies, photographic, 392 
Solid dark slides, 33 
Specimens of work with lenses, 55 
Speculum camera, 3 
Speed and developers, 123 
the most useful, 163 
numbers, to convert, 116 
of plates, 115 
Spherical aberration, 7, 52 



INDEX 


419 


Spirit-mantle burners for enlarging, 
270 

Spots, silver, on P.O.P., 181 
Spotting prints, 320 
Spray development in gum printing, 
243 

Squeegeeing prints, 188 
Stand camera, typical, 40 
Stands, studio, 37 
tripod, 37 
Stannotype, 404 
Starch paste, 192 
Steichen, 377 
Stereoscope, 408 
Stereoscopic camera, 30 
work, 408 

Sterry on meter systems, 116 
Stieglitz and Keiley platinum print¬ 
ing, 205 

on pictorial photography, 379 
Stigmatic lens, 74 
Stopping down, the need for, 85 
Stops on telephoto lenses, 79 
with convertible lenses, 83 
systems of measuring, 44 
“ U.S.” markings, 45 
Street scenes, 174 
Striae in lenses, 46 
Studio cameras, 30 
exposures in a, 118 
not a necessity for portraits, 350 
stands, 37, 350 
Subject and exposure, 117 
Sulphide toning bromide prints, 263 
Sunning down during printing, 321 
Sutton’s water lens, 76 
Swan, 23 

the carbon process, 212 
invents bromide paper, 25, 253 
Swing back, 31 

Swiss landscapes, plates for, 91 
System of measuring plate speeds, 115 
perspective, 61 

Tables of exposures for moving 
objects, 173 
Talbot, 1, 19 
Talbot-Klic process, 397 
Talbotype process, 19 
Tannin process, 22 
Taupenot process, 22 
Taylor, H. Dennis, 26, 74 


Telecentric lens, 79 
Telephoto lenses, 77 

for hand-camera work, 171 
Telephotography, 78 
Testing a lens, 46 
Test object for lenses, 49 
Thomson, Rev. J. B., on pinhole 
work, 58 

Thornton, G. E., 36 
Three-colour printing, 302 
Tilting the camera, 29 
Time development, 125 
Tonality, 374 
Tones, double, 184 
Toning lantern slides, 281 
P.O.P., 182 
with platinum, 186 
Transfer paper, to prepare, 228 
Transferring oil prints, 252 
Transparencies by the carbon process, 
231 

Treatment in pictorial work, 367 
Trimming prints, 190 
Tripod adapter, a folding, 37 
Tripod stands, 37 
Truth of tone, 374 
Turn-table for tripod, 38 

U.S. markings of stops, 45 
Uncorrected lenses, 54, 68 
Untruthful colour rendering, 297 
Uto paper, 309 

Varnish, matt, 314 
the removal of, 146 
Varnishing negatives, 141 
Ventilation of the dark room, 99 
View meter, 331 
Vignettes, 180 

by reduction, 325 
Vinci, Leonardo da, 3, 4 
Vogel discovers orthochromatism, 23, 
286 
Volta, 1 


Warnerke sensitometer, 115 
Washing before toning, P.O.P., 183 
negatives, 136 
prints, 187 

Waterhouse, Major-Gen. J., 4 



420 


THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHER 


Water supply, the dark room, 105 
Watkin’s factorial development, 125, 
127 

meter, 116, 120 
Weber, 1 

Wedgwood, 1, 10, n, 13, 18 
Wellington’s silver intensifier, 143 
Wetting plates before development, 

131 

Wet-plate photography, 405 
Wheatstone and Cooke, 1 
Wild, H., on reduction, 282, 325 


Willis invents platinotype, 23 
Woodbury type, 401 
Wooden dishes for large work, 106 
Woodland pictures, 334 
Wotton, Sir R., 5 
Wyne Meter, 116 

Xylonite dishes, 106 

Yellow screens, 288, 292 
Young-Helmholz theory, 300 


C 


Printed in Great Britain by 

UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, LONDON AND WOKING 






























